Word: bentsen
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...Bentsen dominated the postdebate sound bites with his attack on Quayle: "You're no Jack Kennedy." But these angry words triggered an audible intake of breath in front of the Heitger TV set. "That's really low," said Betty. Her neighbors agreed. Bush stalwarts like Mike McManus and Ray Heitger saw in Bentsen's remark evidence that the Texas Senator too was a flawed candidate. This allowed them to reconcile their discomfort over Quayle with their backing of Bush...
...debate party, Quayle again became an object of derision. As he was being asked what books or movies had influenced him, Betty Heitger, referring to Quayle's meager war record, cracked, "If he says Platoon, I'll knock him down." Afterward, she volunteered that her newfound admiration for Bentsen and her deep concerns that Quayle "just wasn't adequate" had moved her from the Bush column to undecided. "I just don't know," she said. "I'm going to have to look at this more closely." But 90 minutes in front of a TV screen helped Greg Kretz make...
...sputter bland inanities before falling back on his script about his congressional accomplishments. On his third try, he compared the length of his experience with that of John Kennedy in 1960. It proved a fatal flirtation with one of America's most enduring myths. With precision and rhetorical balance, Bentsen uttered four terse sentences. "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy...
...That remark was uncalled for, Senator," Quayle interjected. Replied Bentsen: "You're the one that was making the comparison, Senator . . . Frankly, I think you're so far apart in the objectives you choose for your country that I did not think the comparison was well taken." It was as though a respected uncle had reprimanded his young charge for cheekiness...
Afterward, few seemed to care or remember that Bentsen had been evasive in answering questions about his policy differences with Dukakis. Or that many of his responses too were recited verbatim from his stump speech. But never mind. Lloyd Bentsen looked and acted presidential -- indeed, to many he seemed more presidential than either George Bush or Michael Dukakis...