Some candidates appeal to multiple factions within the GOP. Quayle is unique in that he appeals to none. Back in the 80s the evangelicals liked him, but today he just doesn’t have a constituency.
Many of his quotes make sense when you realize he’s a time traveler.
A (mild) defense of Dan Quayle: “Potato” was misspelled as “potatoe” on the answer card the Veep had been given. Not that he hadn’t already firmly established his doofus credentials before the incident.
As for Quayle’s chances of a comeback: In a party that recently embraced (albeit, briefly) Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann, being a doofus may not be such a liability anymore.
Panache45 wrote: “The only reason Quayle was chosen to be VP is that he reminded GHWBush of Robert Redford. Think about that.”
Didn’t you mean to say: “The only reason Quayle was chosen to be VP is that he reminded GHWBush of his son GW Bush. Think about that.”?
I don’t need to pile on Dan Quayle anymore (much as I’d like to.) So let’s talk about Marilyn.
She’s smarter than Dan, harder working, more ambitious, and probably more solidly rooted in her conservatism. People wouldn’t be able to mock her like they did her husband. Actually, she’s sort of a reverse image of Hillary.
She’s been out of the public light for more than 20 years, and has no chance of being elected. Good thing, too. She scares me.
I watched pretty much gavel to gavel coverage of the 88 and 92 Republican conventions. If Marilyn Quayle spoke, I sure don’t remember it. Dan Quayle was seen as a political joke and many wanted to dump him in 1992. Their son was a one term congressman from Arizona who went skinny dipping in Israel.
Last I heard, Quayle worked at a hedge fund. I highly doubt his wife is going to jump into presidential politics after being out of the limelight for so long
To the extent that Quayle ever had a shot at the GOP nomination, it would have been in 1996. He probably would have lost anyway in that year, but whatever support he had in the GOP would have had less time to dissipate. But he decided to take a pass on 1996 and wait for 2000. Even at the time (late 1995), I thought that didn’t make sense.
His real problems in 2000 came down to: (1) he’d been out of politics for eight years, and (2) George W. Bush pretty much filled his niche, and was a much stronger candidate. He could have run a perfect campaign in that cycle, and he would still have gone nowhere.
Ben was only defeated recently and that’s because he tried to primary David Schweikert in a district full of country club Republicans. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him try to run against Sinema if she looks even remotely vulnerable, especially in a highly competitive district like that.
The older Quayles have been out of the spotlight entirely too long for a huge national comeback.
President & VP are pretty much career-ending jobs; with rare exceptions, the only place to go from VP is President. It’s not surprising at all that his political career ended when he left the White House.
The fact that Dan Quayle looks positively statesmanlike compared to some of today’s notable Republicans says as much about the state of the Republican Party as anything could.
Marilyn Quayle has never been a real politician and at 65 years old I doubt she’d want to start now.
Does she still have that Laura Petrie hairdo?
Don’t think so. Here she was in 2012, at a memorial service for Neil Armstrong: http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Marilyn+Quayle+Memorial+Service+Neil+Armstrong+1onpV2QGm23l.jpg.
Just before I took the Ohio bar exam in 1992, one of my bar-review instructors had been a law school classmate of Marilyn Quayle’s. He told my class (no idea if it’s true or not) that she had been pregnant, and had labor induced so that she could take the Indiana bar exam on time.
AH! Mr. ‘Potatoe’ head, who compared himself to Jack Kennedy and chided what’s her name for a decision to have a child outside of marriage. I think he’d fit right in with todays candidates.
You win the entire internet for that!!! 
Murphy Brown: Murphy Brown - Wikipedia
Quality.
He was great entertainment. I think he probably wasn’t as stupid as he seemed, but there seemed to be a missing connection between his brain and his mouth.
Lloyd Bentsen’s “You’re no Jack Kennedy.” is the most withering put down I’ve ever heard. I did feel a bit sorry for him being on the end of that.
When I’d stopped laughing…
I sort of feel sorry for him about that Murphy Brown thing, in that what he actually said wasn’t as stupid as the way it was portrayed.
I remember reading that Quayle had made the comparison previously, so Bentsen’s debate prep team readied the line, just in case.
That’s interesting. Watching it again I noticed they cut away to a shot of Bentsen looking like the cat who had got the cream as soon as Quayle made the comparison.
I didn’t get much of a response to this thread, but it might be of interest: Just how well DID Lloyd Bentsen know John F. Kennedy? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board