By WALTER R. MEARS
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - Vice President Al Gore attacked George W. Bush as an ally of the rich and powerful Tuesday night, but the Texas governor rebutted in climactic campaign debate that his rival was a “big spender” in the mold of Democratic liberals who once sought the White House and lost.

“He proposed more than Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis combined,” Bush said of two Democratic presidential candidates rejected by voters in 1984 and 1988.

The Texas governor and the vice president, locked in a close race for the White House, argued domestic and foreign policy issues for 90 minutes in a town hall-style format. It was their third encounter in two weeks and their last before they face judgment at the polls on Nov. 7.

In their final summations, the two men stripped their appeals to their essentials.

“I have kept my word,” said Gore, who has served as Bill Clinton’s vice president for two terms. He mentioned his service in Vietnam and a strong marriage of 30 years. He said the nation has experienced record prosperity and reduced crime in recent years, and pledged to build on it.

“I’ll make you one promise here. You ain’t seen nothing yet and I will keep that promise.”

Under the rules, Republican Bush got the last word. “I think after three debates the good people of this country understand there is a difference,” he said. “The difference between a big federal government and someone who is coming from outside Washington who will trust individuals.”

Gore has slipped slightly in the polls since the first campaign debate Oct. 3 in Boston, and from the opening moments, the vice president bore in on Bush as a defender of the privileged. He said the Texas governor was allied with insurance companies rather than patients, for example, and that his tax cut was tilted heavily toward the wealthy.

“If you want someone who will support