« Previous | Main | Next »

McCain Camp Says Biden's Remarks on Stem Cell Research are 'Offensive,' 'Disturbing,' 'Desperate'

Share

September 09, 2008 1:14 PM

ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Tuesday criticized Republicans for not supporting stem-cell research and, although he did not mention Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by name, the McCain campaign called his comments "offensive", "disturbing", and "desperate."

"I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have both the joy, because there's joy to it as well, the joy and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect," Biden said at a rally in Columbia, Missouri. "Well, guess what folks? If you care about it, why don't you support stem cell research?"

Gov. Palin's infant son Trig has Down Syndrome. GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain supports stem-cell research, but his running mate Palin reportedly does not.

The McCain/Palin campaign immediately ripped into Biden's remarks.

"Barack Obama’s running mate sunk to a new low today launching an offensive debate over who cares more about special needs children," said McCain spokesman Ben Porritt. "Playing politics with this issue is disturbing and indicative of a desperate campaign."

However, Biden spokesman David Wade said the Democratic vice-presidential candidate was not referring to his Republican counterpart with his comments.

“This is a clash of policies not a clash of personalities," Wade said in a statement. "We've heard not a dime's worth of difference between the McCain-Palin ticket and the Bush Administration on medical breakthroughs that millions of parents and doctors believe could save lives and transform the quality of life for countless Americans.”

September 9, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (679)

User Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Pailin has rectal conversational tendencies and has been caught.


Posted by: Martin | Sep 9, 2008 2:23:46 PM

McCain has Sado-masochistic tendencies and has been caught!

video tape at 11!

Posted by: Martin | Sep 9, 2008 2:24:57 PM

Bit of a pin head aren't you Norman.

Posted by: Barney Phiffe | Sep 9, 2008 2:25:08 PM

For someone who refers to herself as a "pitbull with lipstick", these Palin supporters are surprisingly thin skinned. That and totally hypocrytical. Oh wait, Sen McCain is at the top of the ticket. Whatever happened to him?

Posted by: B. Wood | Sep 9, 2008 2:25:18 PM

Embryionic stem cells are where the controversy lies - didn't Biden just say a few days ago that he believes life begins at conception? And we can't forget his all-knowing counterpart's answer when life begins - it's above his pay scale to know that.

Posted by: jim | Sep 9, 2008 2:26:25 PM

Shellyt, I absolutely disagree with you. Mcain shows “no real backbone?” McCain is the man who said, and meant, that he would rather lose an election than lose a war. He then backed up those words by taking an unpopular stand. And the Republican party “only has slander and sarcasm, not solutions?” Shelly, candidates of both parties engage in slander and sarcasm. Barack Obama is no better than Clinton or McCain in that regard. Your response to my post reveals a level of immaturity that is typical of the pro-Obama posts that I read. You indicated that I should “research where each candidate stands on the issues.” I’ve done exactly that, and come to the conclusion that John McCain, while not perfect, is the better choice in this election.

Posted by: Flynn Duffy | Sep 9, 2008 2:27:50 PM

Obama is just plain getting hysterically frightened. After all, he's already had his name embroidered on O-Force one saying "President Obama." He just has to win.......

Posted by: cron | Sep 9, 2008 2:30:53 PM

Biden would be President if he had hair -go ask him. he said so.

Posted by: geevill | Sep 9, 2008 2:32:18 PM

If you know anyone who's sick with cancer, Parkinson's, Down Syndrome, or any other illness, you should vote for the candidate who wants to help them with supporting the development of treatments through stem-cell research.

The Republicans just don't get it. How can they sit back and let people die without trying to find treatments?

Posted by: Rodham Democrat | Sep 9, 2008 2:32:42 PM

It's not above my pay scale to know when life begins. It begins at birth. There, now you know.

Posted by: God | Sep 9, 2008 2:37:17 PM

“Obama has been ramping up the attack machine against Palin. He is even starting to attack her on personal issues.” Hmmm. An increasingly angry black guy beating up on a white mother of five with a special needs baby. Now that’s a strategy designed to succeed, if I ever saw one! LOL!

Posted by: Carrie | Sep 9, 2008 2:37:25 PM

From:
Head of State
http://tinyurl.com/65qxee

Sunday, September 07, 2008

10 Ways in Which, For Women, Sarah Palin Is *Exactly* Like George W. Bush

1) Like Bush, she is completely against a woman's right to choose (in fact, she exceeds Bush in that she is against a woman's right to choose even in cases of rape or incest;

2) Like Bush, she opposes stem cell research to prevent fatal diseases in men, women and children;

3) Like Bush, supports the teaching of Creationism alongside Evolution in public schools;

4) Like Bush, does not believe that Global Warming is man made;

5) Like Bush, has supported abstinence-only sex education methods that have proven ineffective;

6) Like Bush, has virtually no foreign policy experience prior to running for national office--(in Palin's case, despite a 72-year old, chronically ill running mate)

7) Like Bush, has engaged in conduct that has resulted in current government investigation of her actions;

8) Like Bush, has made statements which indicate lack of knowledge of basic elements of the office they are running for (Palin, July 2008: "What exactly does the Vice President do everyday?");

9) Like Bush, has been sequestered to prevent her being asked questions that she has not yet been prepared to answer;

10) Like Bush, talks like a reformer--yet in her actions (i.e., relying on lobbying, supporting the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it) acts in the most typical, all-too-familiar fashion.


H/T: On The Issues

Cite:
Head of State
http://tinyurl.com/65qxee

Posted by: Marie Stewart | Sep 9, 2008 2:39:14 PM

Obama et al trashes HRC but now begs her to rescue the failing ticket.

Funny, funny, funny!

Posted by: dl | Sep 9, 2008 2:39:52 PM

Thinking:

You said that you don't support abortion in general. I think I can speak for all pro-choicers when I say that we don't support abortions, either. We support the right to choose. It is an important distinction.


Posted by: ali | Sep 9, 2008 2:41:22 PM

What's offensive and disturbing is calling yourself pro life and not supporting stem cell research.

Posted by: Patriot | Sep 9, 2008 2:43:52 PM

I hear Pelosi's so worried, she's going in for more plastic surgery.

Posted by: dl | Sep 9, 2008 2:44:58 PM

Who knows Obama best?

Probably Michelle.

Why then, is she gagged in the closet?

Inquiring minds want to know...


Posted by: dl | Sep 9, 2008 2:46:42 PM

Biden sucks,

Hillary will step up to the plate in 4 years.

Sadly, that's all we have now, but the vindication will be evident.

Let's just hope Pailin' McCain hasn't sunk the ship by then.

IS EIGHT YEARS NOT LONG ENOUGH TO GET BACK ON GOOD ECONOMIC TRACK AND TO START LIVING LIKE THE 90S AGAIN? WHO KNOWNS WHERE THEY'LL BE IN 4 YEARS? BE SMART.

Posted by: J. Richter | Sep 9, 2008 2:46:59 PM

Yes, and Obama must have learned all of his personal attack tactics on white women from his "spiritual father and mentor," Reverend Wright.

Haven't you heard? Reverend Wright just got caught with his hands (or e-mails) in a white man's cookie jar!!

Posted by: SandyB | Sep 9, 2008 2:49:45 PM

Palin a trojan horse for whom? Russia? Canada? Talking about Trojan candidate, what about Indonesia? Kenya?

Posted by: Obama-Yah-Wright | Sep 9, 2008 2:51:28 PM

Post a comment