Biden Says Palin's Gender Doesn't Change His Debate Game
(CBS)
(KALISPELL, MT.) - Joe Biden says he’s not expecting anything different from what he’s used to in taking on Sarah Palin in the upcoming vice presidential debate.
“I’ve got to say, I find it fascinating. It seems like the only people in the room that think that debating a woman is going to be fundamentally different are people who don’t hang around with smart women,” Biden said aboard his campaign plane as he traveled to Montana today.
“I mean, you know, the idea that I’ve not debated tough, smart women. Come to the Senate, man. Take on [Senator] Barbara Mikulski. You know, uh, take on [Senator] Olympia Snowe. You know, take on [Senator] Dianne Feinstein. Take on [Senator] Barbara Boxer. Take on you know, the list goes on.
In response to questioners who ask if he will prepare differently for debating a woman, Biden said, “I think they’re in a time warp. They’re in another era. If they’d ask that question, you know, when I got to the Senate, when there were no women, you’d say, ‘Yeah, I wonder how this is going to work.’ ”
Biden responded to accusations by Palin yesterday that Biden’s 35-plus years of experience as a senator makes him a Washington insider.
“Look... I think it's a legitimate political point for her to make. Obviously she's going to make it.”
Biden, though he has worked in Washington since 1973, pointed to the fact that he has never lived in Washington -- he commutes to work from Delaware each day. Biden insisted that unlike Palin, his career made his views on policy and record more transparent to Americans.
“People are going to say she was the governor of a small -- I mean, a mayor of a small town, governor of a small state. She's not ready. People are going to say about me you've been there 35 years. Neither one by themselves tells you much until you delve in and find out, ‘What'd you do as governor? What do you know? What do you say? What are you for?’ I just…I know it sounds corny, but I really do have faith in the instincts of the American people. You give enough information, they'll make the right decision.”
