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Throw Back Saturday, Politics Edition - 1988
Quayle: Three times that I've had this question — and I will try to answer it again for you, as clearly as I can, because the question you're asking is, "What kind of qualifications does Dan Quayle have to be president," "What kind of qualifications do I have," and "What would I do in this kind of a situation?" And what would I do in this situation? [...] I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of vice president of this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency. I will be prepared to deal with the people in the Bush administration, if that unfortunate event would ever occur.
Judy Woodruff: Senator [Bentsen]?
Bentsen: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy. (Prolonged shouts and applause.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senator,_you%27re_no_Jack_Kennedy
Quayle had routinely been comparing himself to Kennedy in his stump speech.
Adviser Susan Estrich recalled in 2004:[3]
In a mock debate with Dennis Eckart, Bentsen used the casual remark "you're no Jack Kennedy and George Bush is no Ronald Reagan."[4]
</snip>
Quayle had routinely been comparing himself to Kennedy in his stump speech.
Adviser Susan Estrich recalled in 2004:[3]
Three days [before the debate], in rehearsal, [Bentsen] had been shocked when the Dan Quayle stand-in compared himself to Jack Kennedy. Does he really do that, Bentsen asked at the time. He did. Can I say something, Bentsen, ever the gentleman, asked us. We nodded enthusiastically. So as we sat backstage, and heard Quayle compare himself to Kennedy, I turned to the key supporters gathered in the holding room and said, "Here it comes." And it did.
In a mock debate with Dennis Eckart, Bentsen used the casual remark "you're no Jack Kennedy and George Bush is no Ronald Reagan."[4]
</snip>
I miss ol' Senator Bentsen!!
1 replies
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Back in the day, I'd hold "Debate Parties" on Debate nights (in 1984, 1988 and 1992). I'd get all of my friends over to my house, hand out rubber-suction-tipped dart pistols, and we would wait for the Repig candidate to show up on the screen. When they did... a barrage of spit-addled darts would fly towards the ol' CRT, covering the candidate (and my poor Zenith Console TV) with darts and spittle (yeah, it was a PIA to clean afterwards). More spittle was thrown at the screen during this debate, to the point that I had to break out the pan scraper to clean the screen. True story! 
