IFILL: Good evening from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. I'm Gwen Ifill of "The NewsHour" and "Washington Week" on PBS. Welcome to the first and the only 2008 vice presidential debate between the Republican nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, and the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden of Delaware. The Commission on Presidential Debates is the sponsor of this event and the two remaining presidential debates. Tonight's discussion will cover a wide range of topics, including domestic and foreign policy matters. It will be divided roughly into five-minute segments. Each candidate will have 90 seconds to respond to a direct question and then an additional two minutes for rebuttal and follow-up. The order has been determined by a coin toss. The specific subjects and questions were chosen by me and have not been shared or cleared with anyone on the campaigns or on the commission. The audience here in the hall has promised to remain very polite, no cheers, applause, no untoward outbursts, except right at this minute now, as we welcome Gov. Palin and Sen. Biden. PALIN: Nice to meet you. BIDEN: It's a pleasure. PALIN: Hey, can I call you Joe? BIDEN: (OFF-MIKE) PALIN: Thank you. Thank you, Gwen. Thank you. Thank you. IFILL: Welcome to you both. As we have determined by a coin toss, the first question will go to Sen. Biden, with a 90-second follow-up from Gov. Palin. The House of Representatives this week passed a bill, a big bailout bill -- or didn't pass