LA Times cited Palin's "reject[ion]" of Biden for "blame game" response without noting Ifill's question eliciting it

Summary: The Los Angeles Times asserted that, during the vice-presidential debate, Sen. Joe Biden called President Bush's policies toward Israel "an abject failure" and that Gov. Sarah Palin "reject[ed] the way Biden depicted Bush's policies with her line about the 'blame game.' " But the Times did not note that Biden was responding to moderator Gwen Ifill's question specifically asking the candidates to assess the Bush administration: "What has this administration done right or wrong -- this is the great, lingering, unresolved issue, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- what have they done?"

In an October 3 Los Angeles Times article, staff writers Cathleen Decker and Michael Finnegan asserted that, during the vice-presidential debate, "[a] discussion of Israel sparked one of the night's most spirited exchanges -- even as both candidates pledged their unstinting support for the longtime U.S. ally -- by spinning into a debate over accountability versus finger-pointing." Decker and Finnegan added that Sen. Joe Biden called President Bush's policies "an abject failure" and that Gov. Sarah Palin "reject[ed] the way Biden depicted Bush's policies with her line about the 'blame game.' " However, Decker and Finnegan did not note that Biden's characterization of President Bush's policy regarding Israel came in response to moderator Gwen Ifill's question specifically asking the candidates to assess the Bush administration: "What has this administration done right or wrong -- this is the great, lingering, unresolved issue, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- what have they done?"

Decker and Finnegan also quoted Palin disputing Biden's claim that Sen. John McCain opposed "allowing bankruptcy courts to be able to re-adjust not just the interest rate you're paying on your mortgage to be able to stay in your home, but be able to adjust the principal that you owe." While Decker and Finnegan suggested that Palin "got lost in the thickets of rhetoric" when discussing bankruptcy, and noted that she quickly changed the subject to energy, they did not note that, according to an ABCNews.com article posted shortly after midnight ET, the McCain campaign stated that "Palin misstated McCain's position" on bankruptcy reform.

From the ABCNews.com article:

The Alaska governor incorrectly made it sound like McCain supports giving bankruptcy judges the power to rewrite mortgage payment terms on first homes.

He doesn't.

The McCain campaign confirms to ABC News that Palin misstated McCain's position.

"No, that is what is called the cramdowns, which is so objectionable that Obama didn't even want it jammed into the stabilization bill," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers when asked if McCain supports giving bankruptcy judges the power to re-adjust the interest rate and principal to help people stay in their homes.

Palin's mistake came when the debate's moderator asked her if Biden was right in thinking that she and McCain oppose giving bankruptcy judges this new power.

During the debate, Biden said:

Number two, with regard to bankruptcy now, Gwen, what we should be doing now -- and Barack Obama and I support it -- we should be allowing bankruptcy courts to be able to re-adjust not just the interest rate you're paying on your mortgage to be able to stay in your home, but be able to adjust the principal that you owe, the principal that you owe.

That would keep people in their homes, actually help banks by keeping it from going under. But John McCain, as I understand it -- I'm not sure of this, but I believe John McCain and the governor don't support that. There are ways to help people now. And there -- ways that we're offering are not being supported by -- by the Bush administration nor do I believe by John McCain and Governor Palin.

Ifill then asked "Governor Palin, is that so?" to which Palin responded: "That is not so, but because that's just a quick answer, I want to talk about, again, my record on energy versus your ticket's energy ticket, also."

From the October 3 Los Angeles Times article:

Palin occasionally got lost in the thickets of rhetoric, as she had in a series of high-profile interviews in the last week.

"That is not so," she said of Biden's statement that McCain did not support provisions to help homeowners facing bankruptcy. "But that's just a quick answer. I want to talk about, again, my record on energy versus -- your ticket's energy -- ticket, also, I think that this is important to come back to, with that energy policy plan, again, that was voted for in '05."

[...]

A discussion of Israel sparked one of the night's most spirited exchanges -- even as both candidates pledged their unstinting support for the longtime U.S. ally -- by spinning into a debate over accountability versus finger-pointing.

Biden condemned Bush's policy toward Israel as an "an abject failure," asserting the president had emboldened Israel's enemies and waited too long into his administration to become engaged in peace talks. "We will change this policy with thoughtful, real, live diplomacy," said Biden, who suggested that "no one in the United States Senate has been a better friend to Israel than Joe Biden."

Palin responded by hailing her rival's support for Israel and rejecting the way Biden depicted Bush's policies with her line about the "blame game."

—T.A.