Sep 10, 2008 10:00 am US/Pacific
Biden: Palin Will Try To Make VP Debates Personal
Delaware Senator Taps Gov. Jennifer Granholm
LANSING, Mich. (AP) ―
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U.S. Sen. Joe Biden delivers a speech after being introduced by presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee U.S. Sen. Barack Obama at the Old State Capitol Aug. 23, 2008 in Springfield, Ill.
Frank Polich/Getty Images
Democrat Joe Biden has tapped Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to be the stand-in for Sarah Palin as he prepares for next month's vice presidential debate.
Biden predicted that Palin would try to make their debate personal and said he wouldn't respond in kind if she attacked him.
"She'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 Tuesday night in Chicago. "That's not my style. I'm not going to do it."
Biden said Granholm had agreed to spend four days with him to help prepare for the Oct. 2 debate in St. Louis. The Obama-Biden campaign asked for her assistance, and she was pleased to accept, Granholm spokesman Liz Boyd said Wednesday.
Granholm, 49, graduated from the University of California-Berkeley and Harvard Law School. She is married with three children.
Granholm's superior performance in some of her 2006 debates against Republican opponent Dick DeVos, a businessman whose father co-founded Amway Corp., was credited with helping her win re-election despite the state's struggling economic performance.
According to the pool report from Tuesday's events, Biden said he'll be concentrating on national issues when he debates Palin.
"I'm not into the small-bore stuff. I don't care whether or not she built a bridge to nowhere. I don't care if she sold a plane," he said.
"What I care about is what in God's name is she going to do — along with John McCain — about the thousands of people who don't have health care," those struggling with other economic problems, and the foreign policy challenges facing the country, Biden said.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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