Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden says a Barack Obama administration would help the middle class by cutting its taxes, answering Republican claims that Obama's plan represented redistribution of wealth.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain likened Obama to the socialist leaders of Europe on Saturday, saying Obama wanted to "convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing massive amounts of wealth at the direction of politicians in Washington."

In response, Biden repeatedly linked McCain to President George W. Bush's tax policies, saying the wealthy and big corporations have received millions of dollars in tax cuts that could have gone to the middle class and small businesses.

"John McCain has been a party to the most significant redistribution of wealth in American history and it has been all the wrong way," Biden said. "There's not one fundamental economic issue that John McCain disagrees with George Bush on."

He cast McCain as someone who believes in "trickle down, government is bad, markets are right" economics.

"What John is proposing and what's been going in the last eight years are virtually no different," Biden said.

Biden's remarks came at his first campaign appearance in Washington state -- headlining a rally at a baseball stadium in Tacoma with Gov. Chris Gregoire and other state Democrats vying for offices. Thousands of supporters filled Cheney Stadium in this heavily blue-collar region about 40 miles south of Seattle.

Biden's remarks focused on the economy and tax cuts, which have become points of debate between the two parties. But he also spoke about Sunday's endorsement of Obama by former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell of Obama's candidacy, saying there should be "no more questions" about his running mate's ability to lead the country.

"Barack Obama will be a commander-in-chief we can all respect," Biden said.

Biden noted the highlights of Obama's pledges as presidential nominee -- universal health care, a new emphasis on "green" jobs and alternative energy, and tax cuts for the middle class.

He also went after McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for a comment this week during a fundraiser in North Carolina that she loved visiting "pro-American" parts of the country.

"One-hundred-and-one of this state's soldiers have given their lives, have died for their country, so don't let anyone, not even indirectly, imply that there's one more patriotic part of the country than another part of the country," Biden shouted to the crowd. "It doesn't matter where you live, it doesn't matter your color, it doesn't matter your religion; we're all Americans."

Tacoma was the latest stop on West Coast tour by Biden. On Saturday, the senator from Delaware crisscrossed the San Francisco Bay area to headline fundraisers that brought in $2 million. He also made stops in New Mexico, a battleground state, earlier in the week.

Obama is leading the polls in Washington, which is seen as a safe state for the Democratic ticket. But several Democratic officeholders in the state, including Gregoire, are facing tough challenges.

Biden's speech served as a rallying point for her and others. Gregoire won the governor's mansion in 2004 by just 133 votes, after two recounts and a failed Republican court challenge. Polls show the Gregoire and Republican challenger Dino Rossi running very close this year, as well.