Word: bentsen
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...Bentsen also pressed the hot populist buttons that ignite Democratic voters. He played on nationalist sentiments by criticizing the trade practices of foreign countries and by ominously warning of their taking over American businesses. He raised the specter that Republicans are out to slash Social Security -- never acknowledging that he, like Bush and Quayle, had voted for a freeze in cost of living increases. And dusting off a line he had used at the convention, Bentsen articulated the Democratic case against the apparent success of the U.S. economy: "You know, if you let me write $200 billion worth...
...Though Bentsen claimed that his J.F.K. line was spontaneous, it had been germinating for days. The weekend before the debate, the Bentsen camp descended on Austin for practice sessions. In a vacant basement bar adjacent to the Four Seasons Hotel, they set up a mock debate stage. Congressman Dennis Eckart, a golf tee stuck jauntily behind one ear, played Quayle. But Bentsen was nervous; he was not having fun. (They did not realize it at the time, but Bentsen aides mistakenly positioned him at the wrong lectern.) Then at one point Eckart, playing Quayle, compared himself to Kennedy. Bentsen became...
...provide a three-hour tour d'horizon of world affairs. Over the next few weeks, Quayle aides concocted more than 200 possible questions. In the week before the debate, Quayle, intensively coached by Bush media guru Roger Ailes, performed two mock debate rehearsals with Oregon Senator Bob Packwood playing Bentsen. At one point Packwood rudely interrupted so the handlers could see how Quayle would react. They even considered faking a power failure to test Quayle's composure, but rejected the idea...
...importance of a debate depends not so much on what happened as on how people remember what happened. The first polls showed that by a 2-to-1 ratio the public felt Bentsen had won. Soon, print pundits were pummeling Quayle from both left and right. At first the Bush campaign expressed guarded satisfaction. Quayle was bloodied but unbeaten. Bush's reaction was predictably hyperbolic: Quayle "knocked it right out of the park." But campaign chief Jim Baker, never a Quayle fan, seemed to be damning Dan with faint praise: "When you think about what might have happened, we have...
...after a storm, Republicans waited anxiously to see if the roof would cave in. The Bush campaign started to edge away from Quayle. During his first speech after the debate, Bush failed even to mention his running mate. But Ronald Reagan proclaimed during a White House photo opportunity that Bentsen's J.F.K. line was a "cheap shot." Responded Dukakis campaign manager Susan Estrich: "When the Republicans call something a cheap shot, you know you've scored a direct hit." Republicans tried to make a virtue out of necessity by having Quayle dub himself a "lightning rod" for Democratic attacks...