U.S. vice presidential (VP) candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin centered their debate on economy and diplomacy Thursday night at Washington University in St. Louis, Miss..

Democratic vice presidential nominee Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) speaks as Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R) listens during the vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri Oct. 2, 2008. [Xinhua/Reuters]

There's a lot of anticipation surrounding the debate, and the stakes are high for both candidates.

Biden and Palin started their debate with a discussion of the economy.

Palin, a female Republican governor from Alaska, blamed some of the U.S. financial crisis on Wall Street.

"You're darn right it was the predator lenders," she said. "There was greed and corruption on Wall Street."

Biden blamed some of the crisis on deregulation policies that Republican presidential nominee John McCain believes in.

"McCain voted for deregulation and that is why we are in the crisis that we are in," he said.