Quayle’s Morality Debate: Day 2 : Politics: Critique of TV show puts White House into center of controversy.

Apple pie may still be a safe topic for political discourse, but motherhood is getting risky.

When Vice President Dan Quayle criticized television’s Murphy Brown character on Tuesday for setting a bad example by having a baby out of wedlock and declared that such moral laxity lay at the heart of the Los Angeles riots, he provoked a storm that sent the White House dodging.

In the process, Quayle and the Bush Administration discovered that using an issue like single parenthood to polarize voters and solidify its conservative base may be trickier than they thought.

“QUAYLE TO MURPHY BROWN: YOU TRAMP!” screamed the New York Daily News. In Philadelphia it was “MURPHY HAS A BABY . . . QUAYLE HAS A COW.” He was on Page 1, too, in Los Angeles and in Washington, where President Bush and his aides spent the day backing and filling.

“The next thing you know, he’ll condemn the Joker,” said New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, referring to the Batman villain. Quayle, Cuomo said, “has a comic book mentality.”

Some were tempted to treat the remark as another in a line of gaffes, pointing out that the vice president risked looking foolish by taking on a fictional character.

In fact, however, Quayle’s remark was carefully thought out and deliberate, officials said.

In the aftermath of the riots, the Administration has accentuated its use of Quayle to appeal to conservatives, and many Republican strategists believe an emphasis on “traditional family values” will be good politics.

Quayle’s approach “helps rally the Bush constituency,” said a Republican lobbyist.

“The attention the example drew to the speech is helpful in stimulating what the vice president called for--an honest and open debate about values and social ills,” declared William Kristol, Quayle’s chief of staff. “We wouldn’t change a word.”

But the Bush Administration’s political calculation may be wrong.

Even within the Administration, the remark caused anger. One senior official--Assistant Secretary of State Janet Mullins, a single mother whose daughter just graduated from college--told colleagues that Quayle’s comments were insensitive. Other female Administration officials complained to friends.

And across the country, listeners called radio talk shows to express indignation. The issue took off this morning “as much as any one-day topic” in a long time, said KABC talk radio host Michael Jackson. “I had lots of calls from . . . mothers bringing up a child alone. All without exception were offended.”

The effect of the remark could outlive the immediate brouhaha and “further alienate moderate Republican women from the party,” said pollster Mark Baldassare of UC Irvine, an expert on suburban voters. “It’s a further indication of the difficult tack that the Bush-Quayle ticket has ahead of them in trying to please the conservative wing of the party and maintain a rapport with moderates, particularly women, at the same time,” he said.

In addition, said Democratic pollster Paul Maslin, Quayle’s remarks could reinforce the sense many voters have that “the Administration is out of touch with the reality of America.” Trying to make political points about the riots “by attacking a television character is Fantasyland, its unreal,” said Maslin.

Bush’s spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, tried three times during the day to put a better spin on the flap, first defending Quayle, then defending Murphy Brown, then, finally, trying to laugh the question off: “It’s just a television show,” he said.

Eventually, however, Bush himself emerged with a prepared written statement.

“OK, everybody give me a Murphy Brown question. I’ve got one answer right here for you,” he said with a pronounced peevishness.

“I believe that children should have the benefit of being born into families with a mother and a father who will give them love and care and attention all their lives,” he said. “That is the best environment in which to raise kids--not always possible,” Bush added.

“I’m not going to get into the details of a very popular television show,” Bush concluded.

As he walked away, Bush muttered to his guest, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney: “I told you what the issue was. You thought I was kidding.”

Times staff writer Judith Michaelson in Los Angeles contributed to this story.