Biden: Ex-reformer McCain now a Rove disciple

Says GOP candidate now uses the same people and tactics he once deplored

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updated 12:09 p.m. ET Sept. 15, 2008

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. - Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden says the once independent-minded John McCain has adopted serve-the-rich policies of President Bush and the divisive tactics of ex-Bush strategist Karl Rove.

"The campaign a person runs says everything about the way they'll govern," Biden said in remarks prepared for delivery Monday in the Detroit suburb of St. Clair Shores. "John McCain has decided to bet the house on the politics perfected by Karl Rove."

Biden was referring to a series of attack ads from the McCain campaign as well as misstatements that the Republican presidential candidate and running mate Sarah Palin have continued to repeat after they were debunked. Barack Obama's campaign particularly bristled at an ad suggesting the Democratic nominee favored teaching kindergartners about sex before reading, based on a bill he supported that would teach age-appropriate sex education to those kids and help them ward off sexual predators.

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McCain "is now launching a low blow a day," Biden said.

Despite his reputation for bare-knuckle politics, Rove said Sunday that both sides are being too negative and McCain has gone "one step too far" in showing ads that are not true.

Biden said he came to McCain's defense in 2000 when the Republican came under attack from Bush operatives and supporters who spread "scurrilous" rumors about him in the primary campaign. "And now, some of the very same people and the tactics he once deplored, his campaign now employs."

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McCain spokeswoman Sarah Lenti disputed Biden's comments. She said Obama and Biden are the most partisan presidential ticket in modern history.

Biden also planned a campaign stop Monday in Flat Rock, south of Detroit.

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