Sunday morning at 11 on WCBS, Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls Andrew Cuomo and Carl McCall will face-off in their first televised debate. No doubt many New Yorkers hope for a departure from the tone and substance of the campaign thus far. The state faces serious issues: an impending budget crisis, high unemployment, and rebuilding after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. But the clashes between the Democratic gubernatorial candidates so far have centered almost exclusively around their respective finances, diverting attention from the question of what either of the candidates would do if elected governor.

Debate moderator Marcia Kramer would do the voters a service by steering the debate away from the “scandals” that have dominated the headlines. More informative would be to hear Messrs. Cuomo and McCall discuss topics such as taxes, education, and the budget. Back in May, Mr. Cuomo said that New York’s taxes would have to come down if the state were to remain the business capital of the world. Mr. Cuomo has put forward a limited number of concrete proposals to help reduce local and business taxes about which we would love to hear more. The topic could prove a major point of difference between Mr. Cuomo and his opponent, who has remained relatively mum on the topic of tax relief. On the topic of education, neither of the Democratic candidates has distinguished himself. Mr. Cuomo has called for such amorphous things as greater accountability and better teachers, and Mr. McCall has made political hay of the recent court decision holding that New York’s constitution only mandates that the state provide an eighth-grade education. It would be nice to get some specifics on this issue.

Neither candidate has indicated where he would seek to increase taxes or cut spending to avoid a ballooning deficit. Nor has either shown any appreciation for possible supply-side approaches to New York’s fiscal problems. It is natural for political campaigns to involve sniping and backbiting. But if either of the Democratic candidates hopes to unseat a popular two-term governor, he will have to offer something more compelling than mud. He will have to offer a vision for growth superior to that of Governor Pataki. Given Mr. Pataki’s mixed record on taxes and budget questions, that is not an impossible task. But the Democrats have scarcely even begun to describe their plans, they’ve been so busy digging up faux-scandalous dirt on each other.