在星期四晚上进行的唯一一场美国副总统侯选人辩论中，共和党人萨拉·佩林和民主党人乔·拜登围绕美国外交政策和经济问题展开辩论。美国政界新秀、阿拉斯加州州长佩林在同参议员拜登的这场人们高度期待的辩论中坚持了自己的立场。

　　For most of the 90-minute debate, Governor Palin and Senator Biden took aim at their opponents at the top of the ticket.

　　在90分钟辩论会的大部分时间里，佩林州长和拜登参议员都把矛头指向对方政党的总统候选人。

　　Palin criticized Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's stance on the Iraq war, particularly his pledge to withdraw all combat troops from Iraq within the first 16 months of his presidency, in consultation with commanders on the ground.

　　佩林批评民主党总统候选人奥巴马对伊拉克战争的立场，特别是奥巴马有关他将在就任后的头16个月里在和地面部队指挥官进行磋商后，从伊拉克撤出所有作战部队的保证。

　　"Your plan is a white flag of surrender in Iraq, and that is not what our troops need to hear today, that's for sure," she said.

　　佩林说：“你们的计划等于是在伊拉克举起白旗投降。这绝不是我们的部队现在希望听到的。”

　　Biden said Obama is committed to ending the unpopular war, unlike Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

　　和共和党总统侯选人麦凯恩不同，拜登和奥巴马致力于结束缺少民众支持的伊拉克战争。

　　"For John McCain, there is no end in sight to end this war. Fundamental difference: we will end this war," he said.

　　拜登说：“对于麦凯恩来说，这场战争在可见的未来不会完结。我们之间的根本不同是：我们要结束这场战争。”

　　The war in Iraq has touched both vice presidential candidates personally. Governor Palin's son, Track, deployed to Iraq with the Army last month, and Senator Biden's son, Beau, is to leave Friday for Iraq as a member of the National Guard.

　　伊拉克战争对两位副总统候选人本人都有直接的影响：佩林州长的儿子特莱克所在的部队上个星期被部署到伊拉克，而拜登参议员的儿子博也将作为国民警卫队的一员于这个星期五前往伊拉克。

　　Palin accused Obama of wanting to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions.

　　在另外一个外交政策问题上，佩林指责奥巴马愿意在完全没有预设条件的情况下会见伊朗总统艾哈迈迪内贾德。

　　"An issue like that taken up by a presidential candidate goes beyond naiveté and goes beyond poor judgment. A statement that he made like that is downright dangerous," she said.

　　佩林说：“一位总统候选人的如此说法显示了他的天真和判断力很差。这样的说法十分危险。”

　　Biden responded that, "He [Obama] did not say he would sit down with Ahmedinejad. It surprises me John McCain does not know Ahmadinejad does not control the security apparatus in Iran. The theocracy controls the security."

　　拜登对此做出以下回应：“他并没有说他将和艾哈迈迪内贾德坐下来讨论。我感到惊讶的是，麦凯恩竟然不知道伊朗的安全部门并不掌控在艾哈迈迪内贾德手中。在伊朗，掌控安全部门的是神职人员。”

　　Palin and Biden both pledged to change current U.S. economic policy to benefit the middle class. Biden suggested McCain was out of touch with average Americans because he had said the fundamentals of the economy were strong just as the financial crisis broke out. Palin said her running mate was referring to a strong American workforce. She said Obama would raise taxes on Americans and small business owners. Obama has said he would cut taxes on the middle class and raise them only for those making more than $250,000.

　　佩林和拜登都誓言改变美国目前的经济政策，让中产阶级得到更多的好处。拜登表示，就在目前的这场金融危机一触即发之际，麦凯恩还说美国经济的基本面是强壮的，这说明他脱离了美国的普通民众。佩林则表示，她的竞选搭档指的是美国的劳工队伍是强壮的。佩林还说，奥巴马会提高美国人和小企业主的赋税。奥巴马曾表示，他会削减中产阶级的赋税，仅仅提高对年收入在25万美元以上的人的税收。

　　Biden said the financial bailout package that was approved by the Senate this week, which he, Obama and McCain all approved, could force Obama to scale back his pledge to double foreign aid.

　　Following several recent interviews in which she appeared hesitant and shaky, Palin appeared confident and even folksy - as she did in response to Biden's efforts to tie McCain to the unpopular President Bush.

　　"So Joe, there you go again, pointing backwards again. You prefaced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have planned to do for them in the future," she said.

　　Palin said McCain is the candidate most suited to bring change because of his record as a maverick, taking on his own party when the time was right.

　　佩林表示，麦凯恩作为一位特立独行的政界人士，在必要的时候也会向共和党开火，因此是最可能给美国带来变化的总统候选人。

　　Biden responded that McCain has not been a maverick on any issue that Americans care about.

　　拜登反唇相讥说，在美国人民关心的话题上，麦凯恩并不那么特立独行。