Quayle was seldom heard from? Seriously?
by Revue Party (2024-02-09 13:05:40)

In reply to: Harris is VP in the 'Internet age'  posted by Kali4niaND


The media waited eagerly for every gaffe. And when potatoe hit, oh man. Ignoring the fact that he did it to keep from embarrassing a kid but the media loved, loved, loved it. It supported their dumb image.

His Murphy Brown speech might have been the most covered speech by any VP. And not in a good way, and rarely in the context of taking heat off of Bush, which I think was it's true aim.

Though, Andrew Johnson's VP inaugural address ruled.


IIRC, even Double Dare brought up the "potatoe" gaffe
by enginerd194  (2024-02-09 15:32:36)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

Although, Mark Summers definitely has a bias


Double Dare indoctrinated me. *
by The Holtz Room  (2024-02-10 12:51:56)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply


Not in the same way.
by Kali4niaND  (2024-02-09 13:11:54)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

The events you mentioned certainly occurred. But they were pretty isolated incidents that came and went. But there wasn't the same daily drumbeat that you see today where everything people say publicly is available to edit, stream and promote. Hell, Fox News and MSNBC weren't even born yet.


I completely disagree
by El Kabong  (2024-02-09 15:36:14)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

Dan Quayle was a nightly target on the talk shows and (as noted below) was pilloried 10 times by SNL in a 4-year period. I'm not seeing coverage even close to that for Harris.


I think you're misremembering.
by Revue Party  (2024-02-09 14:24:33)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

'The Quayle is dumb' drumbeat was constant. Moreso than Harris. I actually hear, see very little about Harris now. It's nothing close to what Quayle received.

I saw him speak during the campaign at work. He held up a model Space Shuttle. And promptly dropped it and broke it.


I just checked. 10 SNL skits on Quayle....
by Marine Domer  (2024-02-09 14:51:22)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

Quayle was not and is not dumb. He was politically immature, and it showed.


He was a good soldier.
by Revue Party  (2024-02-09 15:03:33)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

He deserves enormous credit for the Murphy Brown saga. Politically, that is. It played to the base and changed the story.

From April 29 - May 4, Los Angeles was torn apart by riots and Bush was receiving tremendous heat.

On May 19, just two weeks later, the whole country was up in arms over the Murphy Brown speech. It shoved LA off the front page.

It didn't save Bush's presidency. He was already doomed. But I was amazed at the time how quickly people just latched onto it and let the riots fall into the background. As a cynical political play, I thought it was pure genius.


He's more than 4 years younger than Biden
by Raoul  (2024-02-10 16:15:14)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

and younger than Trump.


Fair enough. *
by Kali4niaND  (2024-02-09 14:43:53)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply


I wouldn't say they were isolated and came and went
by DBCooper  (2024-02-09 13:53:26)     cannot delete  |  Edit  |  Return to Board  |  Ignore Poster   |   Highlight Poster  |   Cannot reply

The Murphy Brown speech was pretty important. As historian Stephanie Coontz stated, it "kicked off more than a decade of outcries against the "collapse of the family."

both that speech and the potato spelling error occurred when Bush/Quayle were working on their reelection. But, the jokes about Quayle were around way before that.

This SNL skit came out a year before the Murphy Brown and potato gaffe