VP debate: Rivals bare teeth in smiles

Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware politely sparred on Thursday night over the economy, Iraq and social issues in a vice presidential debate in which both claimed they were agents of change for a nation in financial crisis.

Facing low expectations because of her stumbling performance in recent television interviews, Palin instead went toe-to-toe with Biden at many points during the debate, not skipping a beat as she recited facts and figures to make her points.

Palin, who displayed more confidence and fluency than she did in recent television interviews, also largely refrained from the cutting comments she has made in some of her speeches. From the beginning, the debate was marked by an air of cordiality, when Palin, who was meeting Biden for the first time, asked, "Hey, can I call you Joe?" and Biden amiably replied that she could.

That folksy manner accompanied the populist tone that Palin deployed throughout the debate, even as she discussed such complex issues as the subprime mortgage crisis.

"Darn right it was the predator lenders," Palin said in response to a question from the debate's moderator, Gwen Ifill of PBS, about whether such lenders were to blame for the economic crisis. They were lenders, Palin said, "who tried to talk Americans into thinking that it was smart to buy a $300,000 house if we could only afford a $100,000 house."

She added, "One thing that Americans do at this time also, though, is let's commit ourselves, just everyday American people — Joe Six-Pack, hockey moms across the nation — I think we need to band together and say, never again."

Biden often chose not to engage Palin directly, instead turning his fire on Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, whom he sought to portray as erratic in his response to the economic crisis and isolated from the concerns of most Americans.

"Well, you know, until two weeks ago — it was two Mondays ago — John McCain said at 9 in the morning that the fundamentals of the economy were strong," Biden said.

"Two weeks before that, he said we've made great economic progress under George Bush's policies. Nine o'clock, the economy was strong; 11:00 that same day, two Mondays ago, John McCain said that we have an economic crisis. That doesn't make John McCain a bad guy, but it does point out he's out of touch."

The event was Palin's debut in a debate of candidates for national office — in contrast, Biden participated in 14 before he dropped out of the presidential race on Jan. 3 — and was watched by many millions of Americans eager to see how the self-described "hockey mom" with scant national experience would fare against Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a voluble, gaffe-prone 35-year veteran of Washington.

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