(ed) Lloyd Bentsen dies

[Tricky]

The senator and vice-presidential candidate who crushed Dan Quayle with the "You're no Jack Kennedy" riposte has died at the age of 85 (http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/05/23/bentsen.obit.ap/index.html).

I remember him as being a good public servant and a straight speaker. I wish it had been him instead of Dukakis running for president. Yeah, he was unabashedly pro-business, but he knew how to balance it.a

He will be missed.

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ETA. Thanks mods for fixing my misspelling.
***
Better info. (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3882247.html)

[whitefork]

Was George HW running as a Texan that time, and how do you think Bentsen might have done as the candidate against him? I didn't know anything about him before his nomination.

[Tricky]

Was George HW running as a Texan that time, and how do you think Bentsen might have done as the candidate against him? I didn't know anything about him before his nomination.
Daddy George was the presidential candidate, but he didn't emphasize his Texas roots. He had been Veep for 8 years and his main home was in New England. So it's hard to say how they would have done face-to-face. Bentson was enormously popular here, but he was very conservative for a Democrat (as most Texan Democrats were). They both had a pedigree and they both favored "bidness", to borrow from Molly Ivins. The question would be is could Bentsen deflect the attacks from the well-oiled Bush propaganda machine that destroyed Dukakis with the "Willie Horten" piece of mudslinging. I don't know if he could. He had been a congressman a long time and so he had a lot of skeletons in the closet. That's one reason we haven't elected a former congressman as president since Johnson.

[whitefork]

Not quite. George HW Bush was a congersman (to quote Walt Kelly).

[Number Six]

Bentsen did a great job replacing President Dukakis after the assassination in 1991 and leading the country through and out of the Depression of 1994. Or at least he did in some alternate universe according to some interpretations of quantum physics.

Bentsen seemed like a good guy but I have to say that that shot at Quayle was a low point for him in my book. It was nothing more than public humiliation. And the putdown wasn't even based on substance. I mean, Quayle doesn't seem to have had whatever stuff JFK had but stating why is one thing and just saying he's no JFK is another. He basically just said to Quayle "You suck" and everyone that agreed with him cheered the line and laughed at Quayle.

[Tricky]

Not quite. George HW Bush was a congersman (to quote Walt Kelly).
Ah, right you are. Only for four years though. I should have said "no sitting congressman has been elected president since Kennedy."

[Tricky]

Bentsen seemed like a good guy but I have to say that that shot at Quayle was a low point for him in my book. It was nothing more than public humiliation. And the putdown wasn't even based on substance. I mean, Quayle doesn't seem to have had whatever stuff JFK had but stating why is one thing and just saying he's no JFK is another. He basically just said to Quayle "You suck" and everyone that agreed with him cheered the line and laughed at Quayle.
It was Quayles own fault. He was, in the vice-presidential debate, comparing himself to JFK, a comparison he had no business making. He got his well-deserved comeuppance.

[BPSCG]

It was nothing more than public humiliation. And the putdown wasn't even based on substance. I mean, Quayle doesn't seem to have had whatever stuff JFK had but stating why is one thing and just saying he's no JFK is another. He basically just said to Quayle "You suck" and everyone that agreed with him cheered the line and laughed at Quayle.I read somewhere that before the debate, Quayle and his people were discussing various approaches to dealing with a hypothetical question regarding his relative youth, and it was Quayle who suggested the comparison to Kennedy, to point out that he was a year or two older than Kennedy had been when he became president.

The consensus was that it would be a bad idea; you don't compare yourself, a relatively unknown senator thrust into national prominence, with a murdered president. Quayle did it anyway, so even if it was a cheap shot, it wasn't like he hadn't been warned.

[whitefork]

another gotcha. Johnson was sitting president when he was elected president. But that's not important now.

I've heard that the "you're no Jack Kennedy" line was planned ahead of time to be used when Quayle stuck his elegantly-shaped foot into that noose. I remember admiring it (the line, not the foot) more for the well-executed delivery than the rather mean-spirited content, but, Quayle never did disappoint when given the opportunity to show his rhetorical mettle.

I need to go re-read "The Clothes have no Emperor" again.

Ah, nostalgia.

[Tricky]

another gotcha. Johnson was sitting president when he was elected president. But that's not important now.
Thats why I said "Kennedy" in my reply. Gotcha back.

[whitefork]

Thats why I said "Kennedy" in my reply. Gotcha back.
all that money I paid for reading lessons wasted. Drumsticks!

[Tricky]

all that money I paid for reading lessons wasted. Drumsticks!
LOL. They need to have a speed limit for posting.

BTW, I love my copy of "No Emperor". The pages are ragged.

[Manny]

One of the last great public servants. His voice will be missed.

[corplinx]

The question would be is could Bentsen deflect the attacks from the well-oiled Bush propaganda machine that destroyed Dukakis with the "Willie Horten" piece of mudslinging.

Yeah, the Willie Horton ad destroyed Dukakis. It was the ad.

If Bentsen had fared better against Bush it would have probably been because he wasn't Mike Dukakis. Lets face it, Dukakis was a milquetoast candidate.

[Jocko]

Yeah, the Willie Horton ad destroyed Dukakis. It was the ad.

Naw, it was this:
http://www.happyfunpundit.com/hfp/images/dukakis.gif

[BPSCG]

Naw, it was this:
http://www.happyfunpundit.com/hfp/images/dukakis.gifI saw that on the news, and immediately said, "That's it. Game over. Bush wins."

[WildCat]

another gotcha. Johnson was sitting president when he was elected president. But that's not important now.

I've heard that the "you're no Jack Kennedy" line was planned ahead of time to be used when Quayle stuck his elegantly-shaped foot into that noose. I remember admiring it (the line, not the foot) more for the well-executed delivery than the rather mean-spirited content, but, Quayle never did disappoint when given the opportunity to show his rhetorical mettle.

I need to go re-read "The Clothes have no Emperor" again.

Ah, nostalgia.
The really funny thing about it was that Bentsen didn't know Jack Kennedy. It was complete BS.

But the effort to keep Quayle out of office was appreciated.

[Polaris]

I didn't even know he was still alive.

[Tricky]

The really funny thing about it was that Bentsen didn't know Jack Kennedy. It was complete BS.

But the effort to keep Quayle out of office was appreciated.
His political career overlapped with Kennedy's quite a bit. Perhaps they weren't best buds, but I think it is somewhat presumptuous to suggest Bentsen didn't know him at all.

[Snide]

His political career overlapped with Kennedy's quite a bit. Perhaps they weren't best buds, but I think it is somewhat presumptuous to suggest Bentsen didn't know him at all.Especially without sources.