Biden, Palin discuss economy, foreign affairs in only debate

Sen. Joe Biden and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin traded punches on foreign and economic policy, among other issues, during Thursday’s vice presidential debate.

During the pair’s highly anticipated first meeting, both candidates minced words occasionally as they strove to represent their running mates’ views.

As the proposed $700 billion market bailout plan awaited a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, the candidates traded viewpoints on who was to blame for creating the nation’s financial crisis.

Biden cited a lack of government regulation of big business as the main contributor and said Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s calls for stricter regulations were unheeded by Republican nominee Sen. John McCain and other members of the U.S. Senate.

“John, on 20 different occasions in the previous year and a half, called for more deregulation,” Biden said.

Palin, on the other hand, blamed corruption on Wall Street for the financial crisis and said Americans have learned a lesson.

“Let’s … band together and say, ‘Never again,’” she said. “We have an opportunity to learn a heck of a lot of good lessons about this.”

Will Repko, coach of the MSU Debate Team, said although he felt Biden performed better than Palin overall, Palin may be viewed as the winner because “expectations for her were so low.”

“It will be viewed in a lot of camps as a victory, and she didn’t make a major fumble,” Repko said.

Repko said Palin performed especially well in playing up her energy expertise but did a poor job directly addressing topics posed by the moderator.

He said Biden was good at pushing Palin to be more specific in her answers, but he sometimes was too wordy in his own answers.

Biden and Palin also battled over issues on U.S. foreign policy, including the nation’s role in Sudan’s Darfur region, Israel, Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as the War in Iraq.

While Palin advocated McCain’s commitment to victory, Biden called for a gradual pull-out over 16 months.

Biden said the nation’s presence in Iraq leaves too few resources to devote to Afghanistan, where al-Qaida operations have been on the rise in recent months.

Both Palin and Biden emphasized an ability to practice bipartisan politics and “reach across the aisle” to get work done.

Palin played up McCain’s reputation as a maverick in Washington and said that, if he is elected president, he will do what is right for the country — not just for the Republican Party.

Biden, however, said a McCain presidency would offer more of the same policies America has seen from the Bush administration.

“He’s not been a maverick on virtually anything that generally affects the things that people talk about when they’re sitting around their kitchen table,” he said.

Political science assistant professor Matt Grossmann said there was no clear winner of the debate, but supporters of each candidate will likely claim victory.

“People generally think the candidates they already support did better,” Grossmann said.