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'Obama would surrender in Iraq'
03/10/2008 22:17 - (SA)
St Louis - Republican Sarah Palin accused Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden of waving "a white flag of surrender" in Iraq, as she used a high-stakes vice-presidential debate to try to revive John McCain's campaign and overcome doubts about her own competence.
Biden largely avoided criticising Palin as he directed his attacks at McCain. He said the Republican had been "dead wrong" on Iraq and has not shown how his policies on the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan would be different from those of the unpopular US President George W Bush.
Two quick polls indicated that Biden fared better in viewers' minds than Palin in the debate. A CBS News/Knowledge Networks Poll found that 46% of uncommitted voters who watched the debate thought Biden won, with 21% siding with Palin. A CNN poll found respondents judging Biden the winner by a margin of 51% to 39%.
Palin, the governor of Alaska, initially electrified Republicans when nominated last month, but her weak performances in her few television interviews caused even some conservatives to doubt her readiness for national office.
Palin lacked the command of issues of her rival, a 35-year veteran of the US Senate, but she was poised and coherent in responses to moderator Gwen Ifill - in contrast to some of her rambling answers in TV interviews. She appeared comfortable, often steering her answers to campaign talking points.
Mavericks?
Biden also avoided potential pitfalls. Loquacious and gaffe-prone, Biden made it through the 90-minute debate without stumbling or talking himself into a corner.
The two sought to claim the mantle as the person who best understood the problems of middle-class America at a time of financial turmoil - and each claimed their own presidential candidate is the best qualified to reform Washington.
Palin repeatedly cast herself as a non-Washington politician and part of a "team of mavericks" ready to bring change to a country demanding it.
"Maverick he is not on the important, critical issues," Biden shot back, referring to McCain. And he said Obama was the true candidate of change.
With the Republican ticket falling in the polls, Palin was carrying a heavy burden. Vice presidential contenders usually do not affect US presidential races. But Palin has received added attention because McCain, at 72, would be the oldest first-term president and has had cancer.
After intense preparation - including two days at McCain's home in Arizona, Palin kept her folksy mannerisms and made only one obvious stumble during the debate, when she twice referred to the top US commander in Afghanistan as "Gen McClellan". His name is David McKiernan.
US troop funding
The clash over Iraq was the most personal, and pointed. Palin has a son serving in Iraq while Biden's son will deploy there soon.
Palin charged Obama with voting against funding for US troops in combat and chastised Biden for defending the move, "especially with your son in the National Guard". She criticised Obama for opposing the increase in US troops in Iraq that is credited with helping reduce violence there.
Biden said McCain was "dead wrong" about Iraq from its 2003 beginning, and the United States was wasting US$10bn a month in that country while ignoring the real centre of terrorism, Afghanistan and its shared border with Pakistan.
Palin also called Obama naive for saying he was willing to engage the leaders of Iran, North Korea and Cuba.
"That is beyond bad judgment. That is dangerous," Palin said.
The biggest issue in the country - a US$700bn financial industry rescue plan - generated few fireworks. McCain, Obama and Biden all voted for it on Wednesday in the Senate.
Climate change
But Biden blamed the Republicans' handling of the country's economy over the eight years of Bush's administration, which he said would be continued by a McCain victory.
He also defended the Obama plan to raise taxes of Americans making more than US$250 000 annually as a matter of "simple fairness", as Palin argued that Obama was promoting a "redistribution of wealth" that would result in fewer jobs and a reduction of tax revenues.
On the environment, Palin declined to attribute the cause of climate change to man-made activities alone. "There is something to be said also for man's activities, but also for the cyclical temperature changes on our planet," she said, adding that she didn't want to argue about the causes.
Biden said the cause was clearly man-made, and added, "If you don't understand what the cause is, it's virtually impossible to come up with a solution."
- AP
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US Elections Special Report
