Veep Debate: Battle of the Sexes?

Joe Biden must debate Sarah Palin on the issues without looking like a sexist.

ByABC News
September 29, 2008, 5:16 PM

Sept. 30, 2008— -- For vice presidential nominees Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, the stakes at Thursday's debate are high, but Biden has the added challenge of how to best be Barack Obama's attack-dog without coming off as a chauvinist bully.

Palin, on the other hand, needs to recaputure the voter appeal she engendered when she was first named as running mate to Sen. John McCain. And she must somehow steer clear of the gaffes and rambling responses that she offered in interviews with ABC's Charlie Gibson and CBS' Katie Couric.

On Thursday, Sen. Biden, D-Del., and Gov. Palin, R-Alaska, will square off for their first and only head-to-head debate in St. Louis, Mo.

In a historic election that has both transcended long-held American prejudices and brought them to the fore of the country's consciousness, many observers will be watching the debate not just to hear what is said but to hear how it is said.

The Democrats -- fresh off their own contentious primary season in which Sen. Hillary Clinton routinely accused the media and her opponents of an insidious sexism, and hoping not to further alienate woman voters -- are carefully prepping Joe Biden.

Biden, pundits and politicians say, must tread carefully, seeking a middle path in which he can attack Palin on the issues without coming off as sexist or bullying.

"Joe Biden is a smart guy, but he is going to have to be particularly careful of how he comes across," said Tori Clarke, an ABC News political consultant and former Pentagon spokesperson. "There is always the expectation when it comes to Joe Biden that the unexpected can happen. He has to be very careful."

In recent weeks Biden has sought the advice of Democratic Sens. Clinton, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to get tips on how to best debate Palin without appearing to be sexist.

The senator has tapped Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as his sparring partner. She will play the role of Palin in practice debates, and presumably help refine his sometimes caustic style.

[Palin's] going to try to make it as personal as she can. She's going to take a lot of straight lefts and jabs at me, she's going to try to get me to respond, she's going to try to get me to respond in a personal way," Biden said at a fundraiser in Chicago earlier this month. "That's not my style. I'm not going to do it."