How would Dan Quayle have done?

It's at this point that Quayle stands accused as a rank hypocrite...

Duh. He's a politician. Look up the definition in a dictionary; it says "See hypocrite." Requiring someone who talks the talk to walk the walk is asking for a very high standard, actually. I know what's right, but can't always do it, after all. Small personal failings do not make someone a Bad Guy. Big failings, of course, you can argue... :)

I really don' t know why people get bent when politicians change their opinions on things, either. Yes, a large fraction of that is actually them having no position and following where the wind blows but, come on, no one has a strong well-thought-out opinion on everything from day one. You have to pick your battles. And if anything, I am far more suspicious of ideology than I am of changes of opinion. It's when they simply refuse to change their position in the face of evidence that it's clear that they aren't to be trusted. See Global Warming, etc.
 
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Which would change if he did a decent job. How decent a job he would do I don't know but almost certainly better than people would have expected.
Would it? Clinton (Hillary) did a highly competent job as Secretary of State but was continually denigrated and a false perception arouse.
 
Would it? Clinton (Hillary) did a highly competent job as Secretary of State but was continually denigrated and a false perception arouse.

If she did a decent job as Secretary of State why didn't she make that part of her campaign? She had a perfect opportunity to do so and she didn't even attempt to do so. No major agreements were reached during her stint as Secretary of State.
 
Quayle grew as Vice President. He beat Gore in the 1992 debate, and his Murphy Brown speech was later echoed by Bill Clinton in the mid-90's.

Let's say Quayle becomes President after Bush dies in a freak accident in late January 1991.

Quayle assumes office in the middle of a war. He let's the war continue on it's course and after the success of the war, he would get a boost from this like Thatcher and Reagan did after winning wars.

Quayle picks Missouri Senator Kit Bond as VP. Governor John Ashcroft won election to Bond's seat in 1992.

Quayle wouldn't have agreed to a tax increase and Pat Buchanan wouldn't have challenged him.

Quayle would campaign hard (not weakly like Bush did until New Hampshire) and since he would be more polarizing than Bush, Cuomo gets into the race and focuses on New Hampshire.

Harkin wins Iowa and Cuomo wins New Hampshire, but Bill Clinton comes a close second.

Tsongas and Kerrey drop out and their support consolidates behind Cuomo.

Brown lasts a while but drops out after a few wins.

Clinton and Cuomo fight all the way to convention, and Clinton narrowly beats Cuomo. Clinton offers Cuomo the VP spot but Mario declines and Clinton picks Kerrey.

In the general election, Clinton and Quayle trade the lead in the polls up until Election Day.

Quayle narrowly beats Clinton by less than one point (49.8%-49.0%) and 278-260 in the Electoral College.

The election is ultimately won in Missouri, which Quayle won by less than 700 votes. Republican Missouri Secretary of State Roy Blunt becomes a figure of hatred for Democrats after he certifies Quayle as the winner.

View attachment 331023

The tiny margin of Quayle's win will embolden liberals and congressional Democrats to fight him at every turn.

Republicans do better than expected in Congress, gaining 34 seats in the House, and achieving their best showing in the House since the 1950's.

The Republicans also gain four seats in the Senate thanks to close wins in California, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.

View attachment 331024

Source on the Iraq War

1993: Qualye appoints Rumsfeld as Secretary of State and Kemp as Treasury Secretary.

Quayle appoints Edith Jones to the Supreme Court; Democrats block most of Quayle's legislative agenda. NAFTA fails to pass Congress.

1994: Quayle appoints Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. The Democrats fight the nomination vigorously and in the end VP Bond has to break the tie; Democrats keep the Congress. George W. Bush is elected Governor of Texas in a major upset over Ann Richards. Jeb Bush is elected Governor of Florida. Speaker Tom Foley is defeated for reelection.

1995: Dick Gephardt is elected Speaker and Jim Sasser becomes Senate Majority Leader. With strong approval ratings and a strong economy, Quayle is seen as a strong candiate for reelection, but announces he will not seek reelection after a health scare.

1996: Mario Cuomo defeats Al Gore and Jay Rockefeller for the Democratic nomination and picks Gore for VP.

Pat Buchanan defeats Kit Bond and Bob Dole for the Republican nomination and picks Florida Senator Connie Mack as his VP.

Buchanan narrowly defeats Cuomo in the general election.

The Republicans win control of the Congress for the first time since 1952. Newt Gingrich becomes Speaker.

1997: President Buchanan appoints Senator Richard Lugar as Secretary of State, Senator Dan Coats as Secretary of Defense.


Indiana Governor Goldsmith appoints former First Lady Marilyn Quayle to replace Lugar.

Congress passes a balanced budget amendment and a single-rate flat tax.

The Supreme Court issues a landmark ruling that effectively overturns Roe vs Wade.

1998: A fence is completed across the Mexican border. Annual immigration is limited to 200,000 a year.

Buchanan follows President Quayle's lead and seeks stronger relations with Russia.

The Democrats gain seats in the midterms but the GOP holds on to the Congress.

Senator Marilyn Quayle is easily reelected.

Former Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton is elected to the Senate.

1999: Congress passes a balanced budget for the first time in decades.

Osama Bin-Laden is killed by the CIA.

Former President Quayle publishes his memoirs Standing Firm.

2000: Buchanan easily defeats John McCain in the Republican primaries.

Paul Wellstone wins the Democratic nomination and picks Zell Miller as his VP.

Buchanan defeats Wellstone in the general in a close race.

Republicans keep the majority in Congress. Democratic Senate Leader Jim Sasser is defeated by Lamar Alexander.

2001: An attempted major hijacking by Islamic terroists is thwarted.

Congress passes legislation to abolish the Departments of Energy and Education by 2005.

Congress also expandeds access to public financing to congressional campaigns as well as presidential with the passage of the McCain-Wellstone Act.

2002: The Democrats makes gains in the Congressional elections and come just two seats short of winning the House. Al Gore is elected Governor of Tennessee.

2003: Gingrich retires from Congress to run for president. Dick Armey becomes Speaker.

Democrats see that 2004 is their last chance. After 24 years out of the White House they are facing a permanent split between the Wellstoneites and DLC wing. After their success in the midterms, the Democrats say they have a good chance to win in 2004 and a large high-profile field emerges. Among their candidates are Senator Bill Clinton, Senator John Edwards, Senator Howard Dean, and Businessman Donald Trump.

The Republican front-runner is Vice President Connie Mack and his main challengers are Speaker Newt Gingrich, Senator Marilyn Quayle, and former Texas Governor George W. Bush.

2004: Vice President Mack wins the Republican nomination and picks Marilyn Quayle as his running-mate.

The Democrats gain control of the House after two special election victories give them the majority. Gephardt become Speaker. Armey announces his retirement from Congress.

Chief Justice Rehnquist retires and President Buchanan appoints Scalia to replace him as Chief Justice and Janice Rogers Brown as Associate Justice. Democrats try to filibuster but Republicans change the Senate rules to allow for an up or down vote with simple majorities.

Trump does well and wins New Hampshire and some others primaries before losing to Clinton.

John McCain loses his primary reelection to JD Hayworth and decides to quit the GOP. Clinton makes him an offer as his running-mate and McCain accepts.

The Clinton/McCain ticket beats the Mack/Bush ticket 50-47%.

The Democrats also win control of the House and gain seats in the Senate.

Despite losing the race for VP, Senator Marilyn Quayle is easily reelected in Indiana, winning over 65% of the vote.

2005: Bill Clinton takes office as the 44th President of the United States, and the first Democrat president since Jimmy Carter.

Clinton's Third Way agenda was popular with the public and he worked well with Congress and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.

Congress ratifies NAFTA.

Clinton's agenda is harmed by the hardline social liberalism of First Lady Hillary Clinton, which causes the right to rally against her agenda and his.

On July 7, suicide bombers attack Washington and New York. Over 500 are killed and over 1,000 injured. The 7-7 Attaics galvanize Americans as nothing has since Pearl Harbor. Al-Qaeda takes responsibility for the bombings and Clinton responds by bonobo for their HQ in Sudan and sending in special forces as well.

Congress also passed the Patriot Act in response to the attacks.

Clinton gains popularity for his rapid response to the 7-7 Attacks as well as Hurricane Katrina.

Clinton appoints Sonia Sotomayer to replace John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court.

2006: Clinton appoints Leah Ward Sears to replace Sandra Day O'Conner on the Supreme Court.

Since the early 2000's, illegal immigration has rapidly dropped and wages have risen. Clinton pushes for an increase in immigration quotas. This effort ultimately fails and hurts him with the blue-collar voters he had been trying to win back from the Buchananite GOP.

The midterms show modest gains for the Republicans. They retake the House amd hold the Senate.

2007: Tom DeLay becomes Speaker of the House and Mitch McConnell becomes Senate Majority Leader.

Clinton continues to triangulate to keep his popularity high.

2008: Clinton is renominated unopposed.

Marilyn Quayle beats Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Ron Paul and George Allen for the Republican nomination. Quayle chooses former Buchanan Defense Secretary Jim Webb as her running-mate.

Clinton/McCain start the general election with a solid lead over the Quayle/Webb ticket.

The economy slips into recession in September and Clonton's lead evaporates. By Election Day, Quayle had taken the lead.

Quayle ultimately beat Clinton by a comfortable margin.

The GOP gained seats in Congress as well.

2009: President Marilyn Quayle's first priority was economic recovery. To that end, she urged Congress to pass his proposed tax reform package which would replace the income tax with a national consumption or "Fair Tax".

The Democrats are split on the plan and Quayle is able to get just enough bipartisan support to pass the package. She fails however, to get Congress to pass a constitutional amendment repealing the income tax.

President Quayle appoints Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz as US Soliciter General.

2010: The US economy is recovering and the growing fast.

Republicans maintained their majority in Congress in the midterms. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle lost his reelection to Governor Mike Rounds.

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton is elected Governor of Illinois.

2011: Chuck Schumer becomes Senate Minority Leader.

President Quayle appoints Soliciter General Ted Cruz to replace retiring Chief Justice Antonin Scalia. Quayle elevates Justice Brown to Chief Justice.

Saddam Hussein dies and a civil war breaks out in Iraq. The US backs the rebels. Civil Wars also breakout in Syria and Libya.

2012: President Quayle is renominated easily over a primary challenge from Congressman Ron Paul.

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry wins the Demcoratic nomination over Evan Bayh, and Howard Dean. Kerry picks Illinois Senator Barack Obama as his running-mate.

President Quayle is reelected over Kerry.

The Republicans keep the majority in Congress.

2013: President Quayle appoints Judge Neil Gorsuch to replace retiring Justice David Souter.

US ground and air forces invade Iraq and Syria to help depose the dictators.

2014: The continued US occupation of Iraq and Syria begins to lose support as casualties mount.

Democrats make big gains in the midterms, winning the House, while the GOP narrowly held the Senate.

Illinois Governor Hillary Clinton is reelected by a solid margin and prepares to launch a presidential bid.

2015: The Syria-Iraq War begins to wind down.

Governor Hillary Clinton is seen as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, with Senator Obama and Businessman Donald Trump as her main competition.

Vice President Jim Webb is seen as the Republican front-runner, with former Commerce Secretary and Governor Jeb Bush and Senator Marco Rubio as his main opponents.

2016: Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination over Trump and Clinton. Obama picks Indiana Senator Evan Bayh as VP.

Webb wins the Republican nomination with Rubio as runner-up. Webb picks Rubio as VP.

In the general election, Obama lead for most of the race, but Webb began to gain later in the campaign.

In the end, Obama/Bayh ticket narrowly defeated the Webb/Rubio ticket.

In the end, Obama narrowly beats Webb. The critical state is Iowa, where Obama won by less than 1,700 votes.

IMG_2518.PNG

Obama/Bayh........47.5.....272
Webb/Rubio.........45.9.....264
Johnson/Weld........5.3.........2*
Other....................1.3.........0

*Faithless electors

2017: Barack Hussein Obama is sworn-in as the Black President of the United States.

Democrats control small majorities in both Houses of Congress for the first time in 20 years. This is also the first time since in 40 years with an incoming Democrat President and a Democratic Congress.
 
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Quayle grew as Vice President. He beat Gore in the 1992 debate,

Not according to the polls:

"Two polls were conducted immediately after the debate. The survey by ABC found that 38% deemed Gore the winner and 35% picked Quayle, a difference that falls within the poll's margin of error. Just 2% declared Stockdale the winner, and 17% called the face-off a tie.

"On NBC, however, 50% thought Gore "did the best job," contrasted with 32% for Quayle and 7% for Stockdale."

http://articles.latimes.com/1992-10-15/news/mn-425_1_vice-president-dan-quayle
 
Not according to the polls:

"Two polls were conducted immediately after the debate. The survey by ABC found that 38% deemed Gore the winner and 35% picked Quayle, a difference that falls within the poll's margin of error. Just 2% declared Stockdale the winner, and 17% called the face-off a tie.

"On NBC, however, 50% thought Gore "did the best job," contrasted with 32% for Quayle and 7% for Stockdale."

http://articles.latimes.com/1992-10-15/news/mn-425_1_vice-president-dan-quayle

Good point.

I recently watched the debate and Quayle looked much more confident and in control.
 
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