Beyond the Dome

Apparently, Sarah Palin’s debate coaches had a strategy tonight that built on the all-Senate nature of the Democratic ticket. The strategy: draw out Joe Biden on any and all Senate votes where he and Barack Obama disagreed.

There aren’t a lot of those to be found, since Obama and Biden’s votes have been largely similar in the three and a half years they have overlapped in the Senate. But Palin seemed to be looking for openings to bring up all the conflicting votes her research team did find.

The 2005 energy overhaul bill was one of them. During a discussion on tax breaks, Palin reminded Biden that “in that energy plan that Obama voted for, that’s what gave those oil companies those big tax breaks.” John McCain, who opposed the bill, has repeatedly criticized Obama for that vote.

Biden, clearly briefed on the explanation Obama gave at the time, noted that Obama “voted for an energy bill because, for the first time, it had real support for alternative energy.” Moreover, Biden added, “When there were separate votes on eliminating the tax breaks for the oil companies, Barack Obama voted to eliminate them. John did not.”

The only part he didn’t mention: Biden voted against the energy bill. He gave no floor statement at the time, but apparently Biden was less thrilled by E85 ethanol pumps than Obama was.

And then there was that vote on funding for the troops, in May 2007. Palin praised Biden, a bit mischievously, for saying Obama’s vote against the supplemental spending bill for Iraq “was political” and “would cost lives.” Sure enough, Biden, who also was running for president at the time, voted for the bill and criticized Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton for voting against it.

Biden did the best he could with that one, noting that Obama’s vote was based on the fact that the funding bill didn’t include a timeline for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. “Barack Obama and I agree fully and completely on one thing. You’ve got to have a time line to draw down the troops and shift responsibility to the Iraqis,” Biden said.

Biden did manage to turn the argument around on McCain, noting correctly that McCain also voted against a troop funding bill — in April 2007 — because it didn’t have a withdrawal timeline. When three of the four national candidates have Senate records, everyone can play that game.