Biden says Republicans in 'time warp'

GREEN BAY, Wis., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Monday he will debate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin the same way he debates leading female U.S. senators.

Palin, Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate, is scheduled to face Biden in a debate Oct. 2. Biden said Republicans' questioning how he will handle his debate with Palin shows they are behind the times, The Hill reported Monday.

"Our Republican friends are kind of in a time warp, and I'm not being facetious," Biden said in Green Bay, Wis. "How do you debate a woman? How do you do this? Folks, it's 2008.

"There are an awful lot of very, very accomplished women holding high public office that debate, and we beat up each other every day in the United States Senate," Biden added. "Try debating (Sen.) Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), try debating, you know, (Sen.) Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), try debating (Sen.) Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)."

Biden said there are potential "pitfalls to worry about" in his coming debate with Palin, just as there are any time opponents of "different genders or different races or different ethnicities debate one another."