Biden, Palin Take Spotlight in Highly Anticipated VP Debate

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• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The past month has been a study in contrasts when it comes to the two vice presidential nominees.

  Sarah Palin has campaigned mostly with John McCain, drawn large, enthusiastic crowds, and received considerable attention from the national news media.

  However, she has done just three extended television interviews. Most recently, she sat down with "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric and appeared to struggle with some questions, including one about McCain's record on regulating financial markets.

  KATIE COURIC, "CBS Evening News" Host: You've said, quote, "John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business." Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more examples of his leading the charge for more oversight?

  GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), Alaska: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie, that — that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

• KATIE COURIC:

  I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?

• GOV. SARAH PALIN:

  I'll try to find you some, and I'll bring them to you.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Such responses have drawn criticism from political writers and commentators on both the left and the right. And a new poll by ABC News and the Washington Post shows 6 in 10 voters believe Palin lacks the experience to be an effective president.

  The few times Biden has been thrust into the spotlight have been for misstatements or gaffes, like this one during his own interview with Couric in September.

  SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), Delaware: Part of what a leader does is to instill confidence, is demonstrate that he or she knows what they're talking about and communicates to people, "If you listen to me and follow what I'm suggesting, we can fix this."

  And when the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about, you know, the princes of greed.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Roosevelt was not president when the market collapsed, and television was still years away from becoming a mainstream medium.

  For the past week, both Palin and Biden have been preparing for tonight's debate, Palin at McCain's home in Arizona, Biden near his home in Delaware.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  But in the past day or so, some attention has shifted to the moderator, NewsHour senior correspondent Gwen Ifill. Wednesday morning, blogger Matt Drudge linked to an article on World Net Daily, a conservative news and opinion Web site, which called into question Ifill's objectivity as moderator, citing the release of her upcoming book on a new generation of African-American political leaders.

  The title of the yet-to-be-completed work is, "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama." It includes profiles of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, and Alabama Congressman Artur Davis. Some commentators have suggested it's a conflict of interest, since Ifill stands to gain from book sales.

  Yesterday, syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin wrote about Ifill, quote, "She's so far in the tank for the Democrat presidential candidate, her oxygen delivery line is running out."

  Ifill's response, quote, "I've got a pretty long track record covering politics and news, so I'm not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation. The proof is in the pudding. They can watch the debate and make their own decisions about whether or not I've done my job."

  A number of journalists came to Ifill's defense today, and so did former McCain aide John Weaver, who was quoted by the New York Times, "Gwen Ifill is as honorable and fair a journalist as there is, and all of us in our business know that."

  McCain himself addressed the issue in an appearance on FOX News this morning, saying, quote, "Frankly, I wish that they had picked a moderator that isn't writing a book favorable to Barack Obama. But I have to have confidence that Gwen Ifill will treat this as a professional journalist as she is."

  In the end, tonight's debate will not be about the moderator, but about the two vice presidential candidates facing each other for the only time in this election.