# Pailin worse than Quayle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 15, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092 "2008-10-15T21:18:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/21 "2008-10-16T15:49:43Z")
Palin is worse than Quayle in the sense that Palin is running for election, and Quayle isn’t. If it were anybody else, they’d be worse, just like McCain will be “worse than Bush!!!” six months after election (if he is elected, which seems unlikely). > [@Sitnam](#): > > I challenge anyone to think of a person in the history of the United States that has been faced with this much responsibility and has been more unprepared. McCain is running against him. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/22 "2008-10-16T15:55:32Z")
> [@](#): > > McCain is running against him. Sorry but no. Comparing Palin to Obama? That’s a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/23 "2008-10-16T16:33:14Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Not the US, but the scale… the Jamaican Bobsled Team. Only if they claimed they were of Olympic stature but had refused to actually compete. Quayle was a lightweight, but he could have told you what papers he read, and he seemed to be a nice guy. Palin is ignorant and vicious, and I think her supposed intelligence is yet to be demonstrated. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/24 "2008-10-16T16:36:32Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Palin is worse than Quayle in the sense that Palin is running for election, and Quayle isn’t. If it were anybody else, they’d be worse, just like McCain will be “worse than Bush!!!” six months after election (if he is elected, which seems unlikely).McCain is running against him. > > Regards, > Shodan Wrong. McCain ran against him in the primaries eight years ago ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/25 "2008-10-16T16:49:06Z")
From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > He then matriculated at DePauw University, where he received his B.A. degree in political science in 1969, and where he was a member of the fraternity Delta Kappa Epsilon. After receiving his degree, Quayle joined the Indiana Army National Guard and served from 1969–1975, attaining the rank of Sergeant. While serving in the Guard, he earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree in 1974 at Indiana University School of Law Indianapolis. > [@](#): > > Quayle became an investigator for the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Indiana Attorney General in July 1971. Later that year, he became an administrative assistant to Governor Edgar Whitcomb. From 1973 to 1974, he was the Director of the Inheritance Tax Division of the Indiana Department of Revenue. Upon receiving his law degree, Quayle worked as associate publisher of his family’s newspaper, the Huntington Herald-Press, and practiced law with his wife in Huntington. > > In 1976, Quayle was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Indiana’s 4th congressional district, defeating eight-term incumbent Democrat J. Edward Roush. He won reelection in 1978 by the greatest percentage margin ever achieved to that date in the northeast Indiana district. In 1980, at age 33, Quayle became the youngest person ever elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of Indiana, defeating three-term incumbent Democrat Birch Bayh. Making Indiana political history again, Quayle was reelected to the Senate in 1986 with the largest margin ever achieved to that date by a candidate in a statewide Indiana race. Quayle worked on the Armed Services Committe, the Budget Committe, and the Labor and Resources Committe. He co-authored a worker’s bill with Ted Kennedy. Dan Quayle was not the most qualified person ever for the job of VP, but in many ways he was more qualified than Obama is (I am a fervent Obama supporter). But he is in a different universe compared to Palin. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/26 "2008-10-16T17:16:47Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > She is far more arrogant than Quayle. Key. Quayle was ridiculed for what was, in actuality, a very good answer to the question of what would he do if suddenly thrust into the Presidency: he said that he’s gather up his top advisers and listen to their advice. Good answer. He knew enough to know how little he knew. Knowing that he could have actually handled the job in a pinch. Palin thinks she knows all that she needs to while knowing in truth very little indeed. Ignorragance - that combination of ignorance and arrogance - is a most dangerous thing indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/27 "2008-10-16T17:23:41Z")
As educated as Quayle may have been, the office of VP was as much about ceremony and being an understudy to the Prez as anything else. Cheney changed that, and Palin thinks Cheney didn’t go far enough (at the very least, she agrees that the office of VP is “flexible”–I believe that’s the term she used). She seems to be dangerous, and not above kneecapping her opponents, metaphorically at least, to get what she wants. Quayle “knew his place” so to speak. So Palin is by far worse. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/28 "2008-10-16T17:35:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Quayle was ridiculed for what was, in actuality, a very good answer to the question of what would he do if suddenly thrust into the Presidency: he said that he’s gather up his top advisers and listen to their advice. Good answer. He knew enough to know how little he knew. Knowing that he could have actually handled the job in a pinch. If I recall correctly, the first time he was asked the question, he fumbled the answer. It was on subsequent occasions he gave the answer you described. ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/29 "2008-10-16T17:38:46Z")
**DSeid** said what I was going to. Palin’s combination of ignorance and arrogance (and confidence) is what frightens me about her. And after eight years of an embarrasing president, we don’t want to risk Winky rising to that level and digging us deeper. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/30 "2008-10-16T17:55:06Z")
Palin has a witch doctor pastor, she has no original thoughts pertinent to governing the nation, she’s been found guilty of abuse of power, and she’s a flat-out liar. I’d say she’s a lot scarier than Quayle. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/31 "2008-10-16T17:55:15Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > Quayle was seen as a mediocre lightweight. But he wasn’t scary. He didn’t have any ethical problems. He wasn’t rabidly right-wing. If he’d wound up as President he probably would have been innocuous and ineffectual, but not actively dangerous. > > Palin, on the other hand, already has major ethical problems. The Alaska legislature just released a report saying she abused the power of her office. It’s been well-documented that she’s been lying her ass off on the campaign trail. She hasn’t held a single press conference since McCain picked her, which is unheard of in modern politics. She appears to be shockingly uninformed about most of the major issues of the day. And she’s a hard-right social conservative, putting her well outside the American mainstream. > > Which do you think would be worse? > > Secretive, unethical fundamentalist or shallow, weak prettyboy? I think this sums it up pretty damn well. She also appears to be a Fundy at heart and supports intelligent design and creationism. Anti-science is pretty damn scary to me at least. > [@gonzomax](#): > > We should have Agnew in the mix. Quayle was a joke but Agnew was seriously bad. He was a horrible VP but a different type. Going in Agnew was no inexperienced light-weight. He was a skilled and experience politician. I would compare him to Cheney instead. Cheney and Agnew are corrupt, nasty crooks but they are far from light-weights and as chosen running mates they had yet to reveal the depths of their depravity. > [@Shodan](#): > > Palin is worse than Quayle in the sense that Palin is running for election, and Quayle isn’t. If it were anybody else, they’d be worse, just like McCain will be “worse than Bush!!!” six months after election (if he is elected, which seems unlikely).McCain is running against him. Sorry **Shodan** you picked the wrong poster for your little rant. I have gone out of my way to post that despite planning to vote for Obama I voted for McCain in the primary as the best of the Republicans and I have posted for years about how I thought he could beat Hillary in ’08. I protest when people post he is as bad as Bush and I post about how for once we have two good candidates running. I am also one of the steadier defenders of Reagan on this board. The idea of Palin worse than Quayle did not come from one of the steady lefties, but from a moderate independent. If you like her fine, but don’t make this a liberal smear issue. I also actually like Papa Bush, I just did not like his VP at all. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/32 "2008-10-16T18:06:05Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Palin is worse than Quayle in the sense that Palin is running for election, and Quayle isn’t. If it were anybody else, they’d be worse, just like McCain will be “worse than Bush!!!” six months after election (if he is elected, which seems unlikely).McCain is running against him. > > Regards, > Shodan No one considered Qualyle to be unqualified in the 1988 election, as far as I can recall. (I voted for Bush/Quayle, by the way.) You might want to check your talking points fax. Some of the ones you are using have expired. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/33 "2008-10-16T18:09:30Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Sorry **Shodan** you picked the wrong poster for your little rant. I have gone out of my way to post that despite planning to vote for Obama I voted for McCain in the primary as the best of the Republicans and I have posted for years about how I thought he could beat Hillary in ’08. I protest when people post he is as bad as Bush and I post about how for once we have two good candidates running. I am also one of the steadier defenders of Reagan on this board. The idea of Palin worse than Quayle did not come from one of the steady lefties, but from a moderate independent. If you like her fine, but don’t make this a liberal smear issue. I also actually like Papa Bush, I just did not like his VP at all. > > Jim I agree with you, Jim, particuarly your last sentence. I think the difference between the two president Bushes is worth discussing, but to avoid a hijack I’ve opened a thread [hereabouts](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=10323071#post10323071). ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/34 "2008-10-16T18:20:52Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Not the US, but the scale… the Jamaican Bobsled Team. I am confident the Jamaican’s were better at bobsledding than me, I cannot say Palin would make a better VP than me. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/35 "2008-10-16T18:32:59Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > Quayle was seen as a mediocre lightweight. But he wasn’t scary. . . . He wasn’t rabidly right-wing. Oh, yes, he was, in the religious-social-conservative sense. That, more than any imagined Kennedyesque air, was why he was chosen for the ticket – GHWB himself not having solid credentials with that base. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/36 "2008-10-16T18:34:04Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I challenge anyone to think of a person in the history of the United States that has been faced with this much responsibility and has been more unprepared. Andrew Jackson? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/37 "2008-10-16T18:40:51Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Andrew Jackson? I believe Harding actually said that he didn’t know what he was doing. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/38 "2008-10-16T18:42:49Z")
Ulysses Grant also comes to mind – excellent general, clueless in running a civil government. Ford is still good for a chuckle but he was by no means “unprepared,” he’d spent many years in Congress. W himself wasn’t very well prepared. Unlike Palin he had been governor of a **big** state, in population as well as area, but in Texas the governor has not much real power. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/39 "2008-10-16T18:44:43Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > I believe Harding actually said that he didn’t know what he was doing. That would make him honest, a mark for him when compared to Palin. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092/40 "2008-10-16T18:46:11Z")
No cite, but I read once that when Eisenhower was asked what he would do as president, he replied, “They will inform me of my duties.” 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pailin-worse-than-quayle/468092.md?page=3)