Biden, McCain feud on disabled children

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Campaigners for Republican U.S. presidential nominee John McCain say Democrats have "sunk to a new low" in an exchange over special needs children.

McCain's campaign reacted angrily Tuesday after Democratic vice presidential nominee, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, indirectly criticized his GOP counterpart, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for opposing stem cell research, CNN reported.

Palin, the mother of a 5-month-old son born with Down syndrome, opposes stem cell research as an evangelical Christian.

During a campaign event in Columbia, Mo., Biden, without mentioning Palin by name, said: "I hear all this talk about how the Republicans are going to work in dealing with parents who have both the joy … and the difficulty of raising a child who has a developmental disability, who were born with a birth defect.

"Well, guess what, folks? If you care about it, why don't you support stem cell research?"

"Barack Obama's running mate sunk to a new low today, launching an offensive debate over who cares more about special needs children," McCain-Palin spokesman Ben Porritt told CNN.