If you think that vice presidential debates – like the one on Oct. 7 between Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris – have no political impact, I have two words for you: Dan Quayle.
After George H.W. Bush selected the little-known 41-year-old Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate, the youthful-looking Quayle tried to deflect concerns about his age and inexperience by comparing himself to John F. Kennedy, who also had served as a congressman and senator before running for president in 1960.
Quayle’s handlers told him not to bring up the comparison during his only debate with the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Lloyd Bentsen. Unlike Quayle, Kennedy was a war hero during World War II, had won a Pulitzer Prize and had a national reputation when he entered the presidential race.
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