Yeah, Gore would've easily killed Quayle. This is VP "Potatoe" we're talking about here.
Quayle had legitimate gravitas amongst Movement Conservatives. And Quayle was 100% right on the issue of Family. A lot of anger directed toward Quayle was due to the fact that he spoke a number of truths about the value of the Traditional Nuclear Marital Family and the shortcomings of other family situations.
The "potatoe" comment was one of the most overblown "gaffes" I've ever seen.
Maybe in the late '80s & early '90s, but this is 2000. He'd totally vanished from public view & consciousness after 1992, & his highest achievement from his Vice Presidency was being a joke.
Quayle was young, and he was "white privileged" young, and he avoided grunt service in Vietnam by joining the National Guard, which in those days was an "out" for rich boys with pull who wanted to avoid being cannon fodder overseas. (The joke was "Q: Why did the chicken cross the road? A: To join the National Guard.") That's a far cry from today's National Guard in today's No Draft America, where National Guard troops (like my son) have been repeatedly deployed in combat situations in Iraq and Afghanistan.) These things generally don't help (although most Vietnam Vets probably voted for War Hero Bush 41 over the Poser In The Tank Dukakis).
Quayle, however, was a good Vice President; the "Potatoe" flap was a media creation and showed the pettiness of the media more than the shortcomings of Quayle. He was a Globalist, however, and one of his duties was to chair the "Competitiveness Council", which was a euphemism for "Rich Guys Finding Ways To Produce Stuff Cheaper Overseas". That aspect of Quayle's career dims my appreciation for him. But he was completely right on the issue of the progressive disintegration of the Nuclear Family as an institution, and I'll always have a warm spot in my heart for Quayle (whom I did not vote for either time) because of that.
I do think, however, that Quayle would have lost to Gore in 2000. Not by a lot, but by enough.
