[Lemon:] Senator Joe Biden has said a lot about Sarah Palin and the so- called "bridge to nowhere" on the campaign trail. But there is a bridge in his own backyard that she could be talking about. CNN Special Investigative Unit correspondent Drew Griffin reports.
[Drew Griffin, Siu Correspondent:] Last week it became part of his stump speech. If you believe Senator McCain and Governor Palin are good for America's road to recovery, Joe Biden says you better check their road map.
[Biden:] I got also a bridge I got to sell you here. Guess what, it is in Alaska and it goes to nowhere.
[Griffin:] Perhaps Biden believes the "bridge to nowhere" is the symbolic bridge to cross in to the White House.
[Biden:] John McCain's answers for the economy and we're in such desperate shape is the ultimate bridge to nowhere. It is nowhere. It takes you nowhere.
[Griffin:] But hold on, Senator Biden. "Keeping Him Honest," we decided to check on 116 reasons in Delaware that one bridge to nowhere in Alaska may not be such a good Democratic talking point. Because 116 is the number of earmarks Senator Biden asked for this year alone; the total bill to taxpayers, more than $342 million. He told our "American Morning" they're all justified.
[Biden:] Everyone's seen them. We have no Walter you know, we have no Lawrence Welk Museums. We have no bridges to nowhere in Delaware; it's all straight up.
[Griffin:] Straight up? We went to Delaware to see for ourselves. True, there is no "Lawrence Welk Museum, but Biden does want $1 million for a children's museum. Another $1 million for opera house renovations, hundreds of thousands for this tiny waterfront park. And believe it or not, there is also a bridge, maybe not to nowhere, but after the tourists have gone at this time of year, the Indian River inlet bridge can seem like a bridge between two nowheres.
[Carol Everhart, Rehoboth Beach-dewey Beach Chamber Of Commerce:] We need a new bridge and we are so fortunate that this is finally at a place where it's going to happen.
[Griffin:] Carol Everhart with the local Chamber of Commerce says the Indian River inlet bridge is a vital link in the tourist trade, connecting the vacation towns of Dewey Beach and Bethany Beach. Without this bridge, she says 30,000 summer vacationers a day would have to drive an extra 35 minutes. The bridge has some erosion problems and if it ever collapsed it would cause economic disaster here, Everhart says.
[Everhart:] The bridge as it is, is currently safe.
[Griffin:] So why is Senator Biden asking for $13 million for this bridge now? That's what Bill Allison of the watchdog group The Sunlight Foundation wants to know.
[Bill Allison, Sunlight Foundation:] Essentially what Senator Biden is doing is saying that well, my state's bridge gets the priority dollars even though it is not a priority project.
[Griffin:] Now the real twist in this story. Senator Biden must really like bridges because not only does he want you to help pay to replace this bridge here in Delaware, despite what he's been saying on the campaign trail, he actually voted for Alaska's bridge to nowhere; twice. That's right. He and Senator Barack Obama were among the 93 senators who voted for the massive 2005 Transportation Bill funding the Alaskan "bridge to nowhere" and thousands of other projects across the country. And when another senator tried to divert the bridge to nowhere money to fix a bridge to New Orleans damaged by Katrina, Senators Biden and Obama and 80 other senators present voted against the amendment.
[Allison:] Yes, they had a chance to vote specifically against the "bridge to nowhere" in Alaska to redirect the money and they chose not to.
[Griffin:] John McCain who always opposed earmarks was not in the Senate that day and did not cast a vote. Sarah Palin wasn't even the governor yet. So why is Biden raising the bridge to nowhere on the campaign trail? Of course we wanted to ask him directly, but his campaign never got back to us. Drew Griffin, CNN, Dewey Beach, Delaware.
[Lemon:] And just to be clear, Drew based his reporting on the number of appropriations Senator Biden requested for the last fiscal year. Just this week Congress approved the 2009 budget. Reportedly there are at least 2000 earmarks in that bill and reporters are still trying to determine what they are all for. A programming note for you, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin share the stage on Thursday night right here on CNN. It is the showdown everyone has been waiting for, the vice-presidential debate Thursday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern plus post debate analysis from none other than the best political team on television. The bailout bill made public on Capitol Hill. CNN's Money Team has all the details. We'll share them with you. And a CNN I-Reporter sings the $700 billion bailout blues and you might, too.