Palin responds to criticism from Biden

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) on Monday responded to Vice President Joe Biden's comments about her support for Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in a hotly contested special election.

Biden appeared at a Monday rally for Democratic candidate Bill Owens, during which he attacked conservative leaders such as Palin, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), Dick Armey and Fred Thompson for supporting Hoffman in the upstate New York special election that has attracted widespread national attention.

"The fact of the matter is, Sarah Palin thinks the answer to energy is 'drill, baby, drill,' " said Biden. "It's a lot more complicated, Sarah!"

Biden's debate opponent during the 2008 presidential campaign fired back.

"There’s one way to tell Vice President Biden that we’re tired of folks in Washington distorting our message and hampering our nation’s progress: Hoffman, Baby, Hoffman!" she wrote on her Facebook page.

In a stump speech, Biden blamed ideological conservatives for pushing Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava out of the race. He said that conservative opposition to Scozzafava was tantamount to letting "Rush Limbaugh hand-pick" the successor to former Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.), who resigned to become Army secretary.

Scozzafava dropped out of the campaign on Saturday and backed Owens.

Palin was the first figure mentioned by Biden to respond to the vice president. Palin is among the 2012 presidential hopefuls who have lent their support to Hoffman.

Palin also took aim at Biden for saying that her energy policy is solely to drill for more oil. Palin said that she supports an "all of the above" energy plan, with domestic oil drilling as a "top priority ... in order to meet America’s consumption and security needs."

She attacked Biden's "extreme opposition to domestic energy development" and quoted conservative columnist Ann Coulter in saying that Biden opposed the construction of an Alaskan oil pipeline.

"This nonsensical opposition to American domestic energy development continues to this day. Apparently the Obama-Biden administration only approves of offshore drilling in Brazil, where it will provide security and jobs for Brazilians," she added. "This election is about American security and American jobs."

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