The mayoral candidates have appeared together in so many debates in the last month that they can, and sometimes do, finish each other's sentences.

But for Kim Best, the president-elect of the Philadelphia Psychiatric Society, yesterday morning's feisty debate between John Street and Sam Katz was an eye-opening first look at the candidates.

"I learned something about how candidates talk to each other and I must say I felt good about both candidates," said the suburban resident who won't be voting in this election.

For more than an hour, the two candidates flailed at each other in a game of one-upmanship sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Daily News.

While both candidates were busy trying to score points on issues big and small, the largely white, heavily suburban business audience was forming judgments on what kind of mayor Street and Katz might make.

Asked if she'd comment on the apparent mental health of the two candidates based on their verbal rumble, Best said, "It's unethical for a psychiatrist to comment on the mental health of someone they haven't interviewed. But I wouldn't feel bad about either one of them winning. I'd feel comfortable with either one."

Fran Murphy, a Center City CPA, said that Katz "was pretty good on his feet" and that Street, who interrupted Katz more times than Katz talked over Street, "was pretty much what I thought, a little excitable. He's the kind of person who's a little hard to get in a word edgewise."

Center City physician Angela Scott defended Street's intense delivery, saying "temperament doesn't dictate how things work. Rendell has been known to have a bad temper from time to time."

But Scott, who is African-American, said that while she had been leaning toward Katz, she came to the event hoping that Street might say something to attract her.

He didn't. "I want a mayor with a vision to take the city forward, but Street can't seem to articulate that and Katz does," Scott said.

Pat Weigand, an executive with Magellan Behavioral Health, said she was amazed by the candidates' ability to talk over each other and keep their train of thought. "It must be a practiced art," she said.

She was impressed with Katz's response to a question about attracting new business to the city. But while Katz might understand the needs of big business, "I'd like to see him make some kind of corporate social responsibility to the neighborhoods that Street is talking about."