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What they got were sound bites, some of which were responsive and some not.

Those sound bites in the second televised debate of the general election race for mayor between Democratic nominee John F. Street and Republican Sam Katz are about all that is left in the public portion of this extraordinarily competitive race as it grinds into its final two weeks.

Why are the candidates giving these rehearsed answers?

Because this civic event for the questioners was a political exercise for the candidates. For Street and Katz, it was a chance to give Sunday morning television viewers a dose of their platforms and to look and sound mayoral. They paid impeccable attention to appearance. They wore the right suits - blue for Katz, black for Street. The right ties, nothing too flashy - red and blue checks for Katz; brown, white and black stripes for Street. Their words echoed television commercials and stump speeches. That is called message.

On their terms, the ability to deliver their messages and inspire confidence, it was a draw. They were calm, smart, and sometimes forceful as they sat before two glass-topped tables at the Zellerbach Theatre at the Citizens Voices debate, sponsored by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Compact, WPVI-TV, the League of Women Voters, and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. It aired on WPVI-TV (Channel 6) yesterday.

Katz's message: He will draw on his career as financial adviser to cities and states to make City Hall more efficient. He wants to steer the massive resources of government, a $2.7 billion budget and a workforce of more than 25,000 people, toward keeping people and jobs in town.

Street's message: For 19 years as a City Council member and seven as City Council president, he has successfully pushed for change that has resulted in a better, less expensive government and he will do more to make the city livable for citizens and attract businesses.

To deliver those messages, they sometimes ignored questions.

Perhaps the least answered questions of yesterday's forum were questions about whether a new mayor would increase staffing in the criminal justice system and help public school principals gain the right to hire teachers.

Lisa Altman of Wynnefield Heights noted that Street promised to raise the number of police narcotic officers and asked whether he would increase staffs of the courts, the district attorney, and the Public Defender Association and expand the city's prison capacity to deal with the new arrests of drug offenders.

Street said he wanted more narcotics officers and worked toward that goal when he was in City Council. He also called for reviewing the sentences imposed by judges to make sure certain offenders were getting sentenced to state jails, which do not have a prison population cap the way the city jails do.

Katz said that there were many people in city jails who were drug users and that they should be placed elsewhere.

Obviously unsatisfied with the answers, Altman said: "Neither of the two candidates talked about how it is going to impact the agencies: the courts, the D.A.'s Office, the Public Defender's Office. Are you going to increase staffing, and where is that budget going to come from?"

Street said the city increased the District Attorney's Office budget this year.

As for the rest, "we have to make an investment. We don't know what it will be," he said. "Folks want to be safe. They want criminals to be off the street."

To that even narrower version of Altman's overall question, Katz answered, "The focus has to be on education because so many young people are turning to drugs without truly understanding the extraordinary damage it does not only to their lives but to the lives of their family and neighbors." He said he wanted to continue cracking down on drug crime and bring more jobs into town so people work rather than use or sell drugs.

Angela McIver of Mount Airy asked whether the candidates would tackle the teachers' contract, which does not give principals the ability to hire teachers "that will carry out his or her vision."

Neither candidate answered. Instead, they used the question to talk about their differing philosophies on the public schools. Street said he wanted more state aid for the schools. Katz said that as mayor he would take responsibility for public schools and noted that he wanted to create an "environment of trust and respect" between teachers and the administration.

Marc Howard, the WPVI-TV news anchor moderating the debate asked, "Does anyone want to take on the teachers' union?" He didn't get an answer. McIver said, "The issue is not being addressed, and that is part of the problem."

Such is the disconnection between the science of modern campaigns, which relies on making candidates say only what they want to say in debates, and the voters, who have myriad specific questions about their lives in the city.

The candidates did offer looks into their views on other topics. On campaign financing, they want people to know more about who is financing campaigns and why. On the subject of race relations, both men would support the city's Commission on Human Relations. Katz would try to secure private foundation funds, and Street acknowledged that the agency, charged with quelling racial unrest, had too small a staff.

Both want to cut the city wage tax. Katz would cut it from its current 4.61 percent for residents and 4.01 percent for commuters to 4 percent for both by 2004. Street would cut the residential wage tax to 4.46 percent and the tax for commuters to 3.88 percent in four years.

In recent days the wage tax debate has raged between the two camps with Street calling Katz's cuts so drastic that the city would not have the money to provide basic services. Katz said yesterday, "We either lose revenue because we reduce taxes or we lose revenue because jobs and businesses and families leave the city."

Before the Nov. 2 election, the candidates will meet in two more televised debates and attend countless rallies, neighborhood forums and ward meetings - giving voters other chances to ask questions.