Republicans hit Biden over stem cell comment

The latest blow-up on the campaign trail is over stem cell research.

Campaigning in Missouri today, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden appeared to criticize his Republican counterpart Sarah Palin. "If you care about [children with developmental disabilities], why don’t you support stem cell research?" he asked.

Palin's baby boy Trig, born in April, has Down syndrome, and she has pledged to be a friend and advocate for special needs children and their parents if she goes to the White House. She opposes embryonic stem cell research, while John McCain supported President Bush's compromise that allowed research into existing stem cell lines.

"Barack Obama’s running mate sunk to a new low today launching an offensive debate over who cares more about special needs children. Playing politics with this issue is disturbing and indicative of a desperate campaign,” Ben Porritt, a McCain spokesman, said in a statement.

In a statement to CNN, Biden spokesman David Wade said the Delaware senator's comments were not aimed at Palin.

"This is a clash of policies, not a clash of personalities," Wade said. "We've heard not a dime's worth of difference between the McCain-Palin ticket and the Bush Administration on medical breakthroughs that millions of parents and doctors believe could save lives and transform the quality of life for countless Americans."

Obama's campaign weighed in as well. “Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that embryonic stem cell research represents real hope to millions of families dealing with debilitating conditions. John McCain has adopted and promises to implement a Republican platform that takes an even more extreme position in opposing stem cell research than that of George Bush four years ago. While the McCain campaign may not believe the American people deserve a debate on the issues, it’s simply insulting for them to suggest that raising a substantive difference on this critical issue is playing politics,” Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement.