| | Biden: McCain is 'no maverick for things that matter'
Palin: I betcha you're going to hear some fear' on economyIn their first and only meeting, vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin aimed most of their fire at each other's running mates, with Biden going directly after John McCain's "maverick" image and Palin painting Barack Obama as a typical tax and spend liberal.
"He has been no maverick for the things that matter in people's lives," Biden said, accusing McCain of voting against healthcare for children, tax credits for education and of supporting President Bush's most egregious policies.
Palin, meanwhile, accused Biden of being focused too much on the policies of the past.
The Republican running mate came into the debate with abysmally low expectations for her performance, and she seemed to at least meet them. However, at many points Palin refused to answer the questions that were asked of her, instead sticking to what seemed to be well rehearsed talking points.
"I may not answer the questions the way you or the moderator want to hear, but I'm going to talk to the American people," Palin said, taking a none-too-subtle dig at PBS's Gwen Ifill, the debate moderator who has faced Republican criticism all week.
About an hour into Thursday's 90-minute debate, Palin seemed to grow fatigued and her answered veered into the rambling, nearly incoherent territory that marked her interview earlier this week with CBS's Katie Couric.
A question from Ifill about what each candidate considered their greatest weakness seemed to completely throw Palin through a loop. The moderator mentioned that "conventional wisdom" held that Palin's relative inexperience and Biden's lack of discipline represented each candidate's "Achilles heel," and she asked each what they thought it really was.
It's unclear whether Palin misheard the question or simply did not understand the reference to the well known figure from Greek mythology. In any case, her answer provided anything but a frank assessment of her weaknesses.
"My experience as an executive will be put to good use," she said, reciting her resume points: mayor, governor, et cetera. She went on to note her "connection to the heartland of America" with a special needs child and son in Iraq, then talked about families "sitting around the kitchen table" worrying about healthcare costs. She even threw in an homage to Ronald Reagan's description of a "shining city on a hill" and said she and McCain would serve as a "force for good" in America.
For his part, Biden wasn't very forthcoming with weaknesses, either. He said Ifill was "very kind" for saying his lack of disipline was his only weakness.
"Other's talk about my excessive passion," he said -- a response akin to telling a job interviewer that your only strength is "working too hard" or "caring too much."
Biden went on to touch a variety of issues in his response, at one point getting choked up as he recalled raising his children alone for several years after his first wife's unexpected death.
Earlier in the debate, Palin started out strong, presenting herself as an average American who uses the crowds at kids soccer games as her economic barometer to open Thursday night's vice presidential debate.
Much of the first half of the debate focused on the ongoing economic crisis, with Palin attempting to connect to average voters while defending presidential nominee John McCain's previous statement that the "fundamentals" of the US economy were strong.
Biden said the country had suffered the "worst economic policies we've ever had" under President Bush, while Palin pivoted the scene to the sidelines of a child's soccer game.
"I betcha you're going to hear some fear" about the economy, she said.
As the discussion pivoted to the policies that created the economic crisis, Biden repeatedly hit McCain's record of supporting deregulation policies.
Given several chances to defend that record, Palin refused. Instead, she repeated standard GOP talking points attempting to paint Barack Obama as a tax-raiser.
The two squabbled over other areas of domestic and economic policy, with Biden accusing McCain of opposing the very type of windfall profits tax Palin imposed on oil companies in Alaska.
Palin also invoked her home state to buffer her credentials to deal with climate change. Alaska is uniquely affected by the warming planet, the governor said, although she would not allow that human activity was the main cause.
"I'm not one to attribute every activity of man to changes in the climate," she said. "There are real changes going on, and I don't want to argue about the causes."
Biden said that position hindered Palin and McCain's ability to do anything about the problem.
"When you don't understand what the cause is, it's virtually impossible to come up with a solution," he said.
The two candidates did seem to agree when the conversation turned to gay marriage. Both said they would not endorse full marriage rights for same-sex couples, although Palin made clear that she viewed sexual orientation as a choice, not a biological reality.
About halfway through the debate, the discussion turned to foreign policy, a particularly relevant discussion between the two candidates who both have sons serving in Iraq.
Palin accused Obama of wanting to cut funding for troops in Iraq and insisted that McCain had a "plan for withdrawal."
Biden clarified that Obama only opposed war funding that didn't include a timeline for troop withdrawal. McCain, on the other hand, "voted to cut off funding for the troops" when that funding carried with it the requirement that the war end, Biden charged.
Moving to the fight to keep nuclear weapons out of terrorists' hands, Biden cited legislation Obama co-sponsored with Sen. Richard Lugar aimed at doing just that, and he accused McCain of being on the wrong side of the issue for opposing international treaties to suspend nuclear testing and proliferation.
This video is from CNN.com, broadcast October 2, 2008.
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Biden: McCain 'not a maverick'
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Candidates talk about their 'Achilles Heel'
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