Palin-Quayle comparisons inevitable

Commentary by Sylvia A. Smith

Washington editor

WASHINGTON Within minutes of the announcement that John McCain had chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, I got several e-mails from fellow political junkies.

They all asked some variation of: Remind you of DQ?

DQ, of course, is Dan Quayle, and what the folks with long political memories were recalling is the similar plucked-from-nowhere choice of a youthful Quayle as George H.W. Bushs running mate in 1988.

One can only hope that the similarities between the Quayle and Palin scenarios at this stage of the campaign will end with age (he was 41; shes 44) and the surprise factor. Quayle didnt deserve how it shook out, and I suspect Palin doesnt either.

Both candidates were ill-served by the nominee who sprang his choice on the members of his party, the voters and the media in a way that inevitably led to unflattering and unfair portraits of the vice presidential candidate.

Like Quayle, Palin was not well-known before the GOP candidates surprise announcement, so the media did its job: Tell the country who this person is.

When you meet someone for the first time, everything is noticed: Your new acquaintance is fat, laughs a lot, chews with his mouth open, has really smart things to say, likes the same movies as you do. Eventually the not-so-important stuff will fade away, so you quit thinking of the jolly fat guy who has no table manners and start thinking of the fellow who has more insight than anyone else you know.

In the years since, Quayle wrote in a biography six years later, Ive sometimes wished that my name had  been out there more conspicuously in those two or three weeks before the convention. If I had had some really serious scrutiny by the press, if I had taken off the snorkel and emerged above the water line, I might have avoided some of what followed.

For instance, with deeper media probing sooner, Quayles National Guard service and the way he got that posting when others of his generation were being drafted for the Vietnam War would have been chewed over well ahead of time. It either would have warned Bush away from picking Quayle, or it would have become a minor element of his bio.

Instead, it became a metaphor for rich frat boy with family connections.

Likewise, elements of Palins bio the earmarking as a mayor, her actions involving her ex-brother-in-law may or may not be clues to her character, judgment or fitness to serve.

We just dont know because we have just bits and pieces of those stories. There hasnt been time for the relevant stuff to float to the top and for the meaningless distractions to fade.

Happily, McCain did avoid one of Bushs errors.

Quayles presentation to the world was an utter disaster. It was the opening day of the GOP convention in New Orleans, and Bush staged it on a riverboat. It was undignified; Quayle had to push his way through the crowd to get to the boat. When he got to the stage, he bounded onto it like an eager puppy and punched Bush on the arm, wearing my emotions on my shirtsleeve, as Quayle said.

With a six-year perspective, Quayle wrote: I was a stranger to most Americans, and that night the commentary they heard included the memorable line (historians should note it as the first Quayle joke) that up there on the platform in Spanish Plaza I looked like the guy on the game show whod just won the Oldsmobile.

McCain introduced Palin at a rally in Dayton three days before the GOP convention. From an image standpoint, it was a home run.

McCain spent 10 minutes describing his choice before introducing her, and Palin walked gracefully onto the stage accompanied by majestic music. Quite the contrast to the New Orleans game show.

Its not clear yet whether McCain has completely avoided another Bush misstep.

Craig Fuller, Bushs chief of staff in the mid-80s, was deeply involved in the 88 campaign. He wrote in the New York Times last week:

Without leaking the news, a small, trusted group could have prepared a dossier of background material on Senator Quayle for the press and our own supporters. We could have staged a more impressive announcement event. Perhaps most important, we could have armed our key people with facts to rebut stories quickly. Instead, we were ambushed with a new rumor every hour.

The McCain campaign certainly briefed his staff and supporters about Palin and the story of her that he wants to emphasize. It was only a weeks advance before Palins speech at the GOP convention (and the first time most Americans would see her).

Whether that will be enough is yet to emerge. Palins record will continue to undergo scrutiny, as it should. Information will shift. (Already, the Alaska Independent Party, which favors secession, has reversed itself about whether Palin was a member briefly. Her husband was, but she was not.)

Palins acceptance speech was an outstanding performance of a calm, composed public speaker, a woman who is not squeamish about the attack-dog role expected of a running mate.

We have yet to see her in unscripted situations, answering questions, describing her worldview, explaining the nuances of McCains positions.

Eventually we will have a fuller picture of the woman the Republicans have nominated to run for the position that often leads to the Oval Office and that, under the past two administrations, has taken on a far more important role than any time in American history. We will also have a better idea of whether McCain made the best choice possible of all the potential running mates he could have considered.

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Dan Quayle was George H.W. Bushs surprise choice for running mate in 1988.

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