Bentsen Targets Quayle, Bush in Biting Attacks

Democratic vice presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen, usually a reluctant hatchet man, jumped spiritedly into the campaign fray Friday with a pointed attack that belittled Republican vice presidential nominee Dan Quayle’s lack of experience and mocked the malaprops of Vice President George Bush.

Bentsen belittled Bush’s Thursday speech, in which he charged that there had been no “Massachusetts Miracle” in Michael S. Dukakis’ home state.

“It was Pearl Harbor Day all over again,” the Texas senator said of Bush’s remarks, referring to the vice president’s misstatement about the date of the Japanese attack. “As usual, George Bush got all of the facts wrong.”

Cites Misrepresentation

In biting language delivered from the steps of the Pitt County Courthouse here, Bentsen suggested that Bush had cited incorrect statistics about the Massachusetts economy and contended that Dukakis’ leadership had indeed brought rejuvenation to the troubled state.

“Michael Dukakis is a leader,” Bentsen said. “He doesn’t just stand there. When George Bush speaks out against Mike Dukakis, we should all remember that when it came to speaking out against arms for Iran (and) when it came to speaking out against cozy deals for Gen. (Manuel A.) Noriega of Panama . . . George Bush didn’t speak, he just voted ‘present.’

“When it comes to strong leadership,” Bentsen continued, “George Bush has got himself a bad case of laryngitis.”

Lured, in part, by free pork barbecue and soft drinks, about 1,000 people crowded the courthouse square for the lunchtime rally, roaring with laughter as Bentsen fired barbs at the Republican ticket.

The crowd took particular delight as speaker after speaker took shots at Quayle, part of a strategy reflecting an almost gleeful belief among Bentsen’s advisers that the Indiana senator has finally emerged as a serious liability to the Republican ticket.

Belittles Quayle Resume

“George Bush talking about balanced budgets is like Dan Quayle talking about his resume,” Bentsen said. “There’s just not much to say.”

Bentsen was joined in Greenville and earlier Friday in Memphis, Tenn., by a host of regional party leaders, a dais-crowding tactic intended to underline the party’s unity and determination to win back the support of wayward Southern Democrats. Most of them joined in the Quayle bashing.

Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr. told reporters aboard Bentsen’s campaign plane that Democrats need only to mention Quayle’s name to secure the desired effect, then proved the proposition in his own return to the stump.

When Bush confronted the “heavy responsibility” of choosing a running mate, Gore said, his voice dripping sarcasm, “he selected Dan Quayle.” A chorus of boos sounded as if on command.

More Plain Talk

And North Carolina’s plain-talking agriculture commissioner, Jim Graham, offered his own opinion of the nation’s fate should Quayle have to succeed Bush in the White House.

“God help us,” he drawled.

The 67-year-old Bentsen wound up his campaign day with an anti-drug rally on a Florida shuffleboard court, addressing a West Palm Beach crowd made up for the most part of senior citizens bused in from a nearby condominium complex.