Marilyn Quayle Defends Spouse, Attacks Hollywood

Marilyn Quayle climbed into the political fray Tuesday by joining her husband in attacking Hollywood’s values, deadbeat dads and Texas billionaire Ross Perot.

Mrs. Quayle, who as wife of Vice President Dan Quayle normally avoids political sparring, also lashed out at what she called Perot’s bid to buy the White House.

Perot will “absolutely not” throw a wrench into the Republican National Convention to be held here in August, she said.

“I think folks in Texas know Mr. Perot, and that shouldn’t be a problem at all,” she said. “He’s been around here a long time. . . . He thinks he can just buy a vote here and there.”

Mrs. Quayle, in Houston to make a speech about breast cancer, also vigorously defended her husband, who was criticized two weeks ago after attacking TV character Murphy Brown for having a child out of wedlock.

At the time, Perot called Dan Quayle’s statement “goofy,” saying that the nation had too many substantial problems to worry about those of a fictional TV character.

Although speaking sympathetically of unwed mothers, Mrs. Quayle criticized the entertainment industry’s values and its portrayal of men.

“The entertainment industry continually knocks the values that we need to have if we are going to have a civilized society,” she said. “Men need to be responsible for their actions, and they need to be held accountable.

“When Murphy Brown says you don’t need the father, that takes the responsibility off the male population.”

The vice president criticized the Brown character, played by Emmy Award winner Candice Bergen, for having a baby out of wedlock, saying she mocked fatherhood. He added: “Marriage is probably the best anti-poverty program there is.”

Mrs. Quayle said: “His speech was absolutely correct, and it wasn’t saying, like some commentators said, that Murphy Brown was responsible for the (Los Angeles) riots.

“What he said about Murphy Brown was not that she was a single mother and that it was a bad thing. It was not that single mothers don’t try and don’t do a very good job. Some are very successful.

“What he said is that you can’t write the father out of the picture. Fathers have a responsibility. When you procreate, you are responsible for that child.

“We have seen in our society where men father many children and take responsibility for none.”

She said letters and phone calls to the White House have been overwhelmingly in favor of her husband.