Democrat Joe Biden says he faced "an awful lot of tough, smart women" during his career and next month's
vice-presidential debate with Republican Sarah Palin will be no exception.

But he would like to know where she stands on issues of importance to US voters.

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YOUR SAY: Will Sarah Palin make, or break, the Republican campaign?

"She's a smart, tough politician, so I think she's going to be very formidable," the Democrat's vice presidential candidate told NBC television's Meet the Press.

The Delaware senator and the Republican governor of Alaska are scheduled to face each other on October 2 at Washington University in St Louis.

Mr Biden, serving his sixth term in congress, said: "There's a lot of very tough, smart women in the US senate I debate every day."

'Great speech'

So, he said, "it's not new" to be going up against Mrs Palin. He also mentioned his wife, Jill, who has a PhD.

Asked whether he'd tackle Governor Palin in a different way to Republicans Mitt Romney or Tom Ridge, who were also considered favourites as John McCain's running mate, Mr Biden said the only difference is that he knows their positions on issues.

"I have no idea what her policies are. I assume they're the same as John's. I just don't know," he said of Mrs Palin.
Mr Biden said she delivered a great speech to the Republican convention last week in St Paul, Minnesota, but "her silence on the issues was deafening".

"She didn't mention a word about health care, a word about the environment, a word about the middle class. They never parted her lips... so I don't know where she is on those things."

Mr Biden today held a rally in the heart of conservative Montana, saying his campaign with the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will make good on its pledge to compete in places that have previously spurned national Democrats.

Bush legacy

"This is not a place where you traditionally expect to see Democratic candidates run for national office," he said at an afternoon rally in Kalispell, Montana.

"But in case you didn't notice, Barack Obama has been [to Montana] five times.

"Now, they finally thought it was safe enough to risk sending me out here."

President George W Bush won Montana by nearly 20 percentage points in both 2000 and 2004.

Mr Biden insisted Mr McCain and Mrs Palin would not be able to separate themselves from the Bush legacy.

"Everybody talks about change. Let me tell you something, I am fascinated to find out that all of the sudden John McCain and Sarah Palin are the agents of change," Mr Biden said.

"Name me one single place where the McCain-Palin ticket disagrees with George Bush."