Joe Biden cited former Sen. Jesse Helms at the debate last night.

The Democratic vice presidential candidate said he was able to work with Senate colleagues like Helms, a staunch conservative, because he treated them respectfully:

I have been able to work across the aisle on some of the most controversial issues and change my party's mind, as well as Republicans', because I learned a lesson from Mike Mansfield.

Mike Mansfield, a former leader of the Senate, said to me one day — he — I made a criticism of Jesse Helms. He said, "What would you do if I told you Jesse Helms and Dot Helms had adopted a child who had braces and was in real need?" I said, "I'd feel like a jerk."

He said, "Joe, understand one thing. Everyone's sent here for a reason, because there's something in them that their folks like. Don't question their motive."

Biden attended Helms' funeral in Raleigh in July. 

Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Biden says his initial distaste for former Republican U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms led to a valuable lesson.

Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer recounts on his blog how Biden, during a break from campaigning in South Carolina, recalled yesterday how he disagreed with a speech Helms gave shortly after they were both elected to the Senate in 1972. Biden complained to then-Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield.

"'What would you say if I told you Dot (Helms) and Jesse adopted a young man?'" Biden recalled Mansfield saying. The senator went on to explain how the Helmses had adopted a 9-year-old boy with cerebral palsy.

"He said, 'You know Joe, if I can give you a piece of advice.' He said, ‘It's always appropriate to question a man or woman's judgment.' But he said, "You shouldn't question their motives. Everyone who comes here comes here because people in their state found something about them they felt was redeeming. Your job is to find out what that characteristic is.'

"It was profound and it literally changed my whole attitude. If you go back and check my 34 years, you have never ever heard me once question the motive of any senator. Jesse and I were bitter political enemies but personal friends.... It taught me hell of a lesson."