Dan Quayle and Election '92

It would be a serious mistake to replace a seasoned statesman with a temperamental tycoon who has no respect for the Constitution.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle giving his opinion about Ross Perot's presidential campaign (June 1992)
This president is going to lead us out of this recovery. It will happen.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle at a campaign stop at CA State University, Fresno, 1/17/92 (The Quayle Quarterly, Spring/Summer 1992)
We have to do more than just elect a new president if we truly want to change this country.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle
Absolutely. I certainly hope I am.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle on whether he is still on the Republican ticket (Newsweek, August 10, 1992)
We have had a number of discussions and, believe me, if I thought I was hurting the ticket, I'd be gone.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle on Larry King Live when asked if he'd offered to remove himself from the ticket (CNN, July 22, 1992)
[I will describe] where I come from and what kind of a house I lived in when I was a kid, how many public schools that I went to -- five elementary, two high schools -- product of a public school system, two jobs in college, went to night school, worked my way through law school.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle telling an interviewer how he will use his acceptance speech at the Republican Convention to reintroduce himself to the public, and to provide details of his hard-working background. (reported in the NY Times 8/15/92)
When you start talking about sleaze, I think some in the media ought to look in the mirror. Now what's the motivation of this? I can't think of any other motivating factor other than you want to hurt the President and help Bill Clinton. There's good journalism and there's bad journalism. And I want to say something to you good journalists. You are being overwhelmed by the bad journalism and the bad journalists of America. Good journalism is taking a rumor, taking gossip and going out and investigating it and finding out if it's true, and if there's any credibility at all. And when you find something like this that was investigated and was totally false, you don't print it.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle at a news conference in Huntington Beach, CA, defending George Bush against charges of marital infidelity. (reported in the NY Times 8/13/92)
For more than a month the media have been telling us that Bill Clinton and Al Gore are 'moderates'. Well, if they're moderates, I'm a world champion speller.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle in his acceptance speech during the 1992 Republican National Convention, 8/20/92.
We will never give Bill Clinton the opportunity to be the President of the United States.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle (9/19/92)
If Ross Perot runs, that's good for us. If he doesn't run, it's good for us. [A reporter then asked him what he meant by that] That's for you to figure out.: -- Vice-President Dan Quayle answering a reporter's question on what the effect might be if Perot re-entered the race. He was campaigning in Rockford, Ill., 9/29/92. The Vice-President later clarified the remark, saying that Perot will raise issues about the economy, and this is one of the President's strengths. (reported in the NY Times, 9/30/92)
He grew up in Washington, D.C., and he's the son of a wealthy U.S. Senator... He went to the most expensive private schools in Washington, D.C., and I'm the product of the public schools... I'm at a big disadvantage, but we'll do all right.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle while in Detroit, 9/30/92 A spokesman later said that he was joking. (reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer 10/1/92)
Our trick, Rush -- not a trick, our challenge -- our challenge is to make the American people comfortable with the leadership George Bush will offer in the next four years.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle, on the Rush Limbaugh show. (Reported in the NY Times, 7/8/92 - from the Quayle Quarterly, Summer/Fall 1992)
If you elect Bill Clinton and Al Gore, that would be a disaster for agriculture. What Bill Clinton says he'll do, well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do is to give a lot of balance to the interest here in California. What we would have is an environmental summit, and guess who's going to be the head of that enironmental summit? It's not going to be the Governor of Arkansas. He's going to put Senator Al Gore in charge of the environmental summit and his book will be the agenda for that environmental summit. I hope everyone reads that book. We wanted to take that book to our debate, but for some reason Al Gore didn't want us to have the book in the debate because we wanted to make sure everyone knew what was in that book. Because that's the agenda for Bill Clinton. That's the agenda of the Clinton-Gore administration. Here's what he says about farmers. Here's what he says about agriculture in that book. He says that farmers strip-mine the land. He says that agriculture is in fact bulldozing the Garden of Eden. Well I tell you what, if you elect Bill Clinton and Al Gore you can say goodbye to water, goodbye to food, and goodbye to your jobs. But come November the 3rd, the American people are going to say good-bye to Bill Clinton and Al Gore.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle in a speech to farmers outside Fresno, California on 10/7/92 (reported in the NY Times 10/8/92)
Bill Clinton's tax-and-spend policies will create a recession in America.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle in New Jersey, 10/19/92. He did not go on to distinguish between the predicted Clinton recession and the current Bush recession. (reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/20/92)
Remember the last time we had a Democratic president and a Democratic Congress? Remember the 21 percent interest rates? Remember the inflation of 13 percent? Remember the grain embargo? Remember the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan?: -- Vice President Dan Quayle in New Jersey to a crowd of teenagers, 10/19/92. The answer to each question was probably 'no'. During the Carter administration, these teenagers were probably more interested in diapers and baby formula than in economics and foreign policy. (reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/20/92)
We have been pushing the idea George Bush is going to make matters much, much worse by holding the line on taxes, a balanced budget amendment...: -- Vice President Dan Quayle while on 'CBS This Morning', 10/27/92 (reported by the Chicago Tribune and by the Star-Ledger on 10/28/92)
The President scores much better than Bill Clinton.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle, comparing Bush's record of marital infidelity to Clinton's during a televised interview with David Frost, 10/92.
[Republican supporter: You did great, Dan, great. There's just one thing. This abortion thing. You've got to realize that the Democratic position --] Is extreme? (nodding in anticipation) [No, is supported by 72 percent of the people in this country. You've got to drop it, Dan.]: -- Vice President Dan Quayle while standing on the stage after the VP debate taking the congratulations of well-wishing Republicans, 10/13/92. Quayle then nodded politely and moved on. (reported in the NY Times 10/14/92)
He is going to be the president of the United States for the next 4 years. He deserves our congratulations. He ran a good campaign. He ran a tough campaign. If he runs the country as well as he ran his campaign, we'll be all right.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle in his concession speech on 11/3/92 in Huntington, Indiana.
Let us get through this week. Let us get through the debate or debates. Let us see George Bush re-elected this November. And then we'll talk about 1994.: -- Vice President Dan Quayle when asked by Bernard Shaw if Bush/Quayle victory in 1992 would make him the heir apparent in 1996, 8/17/92, on CNN. (A NY Times article started: "No Comment Yet On Strategy for '94. But will it be a good year for potatoes?" It then went on to speculate that Kemp, Baker, Bennett and Buchanan won't be running in '94)