That Really Was a Debate : Gore, Quayle and Stockdale mix it up in a less-structured format

If debate can be likened to a sport, last night’s vice presidential encounter was a roller derby. It was never elegant and occasionally bumpy, but it was invariably interesting--though not deeply inspirational.

Certainly the format--less structured than Sunday night’s presidential debate--lent itself to body contact. So did Vice President Dan Quayle’s attack-dog style. More than once he figuratively threw his political body at the opponent--not so much at Sen. Al Gore himself but at the top half of the Clinton-Gore ticket. Slashing away at the character issue, Quayle asked repeatedly whether Gov. Clinton could be trusted with the White House.

Gore gave just about as good as he got, and for a lot of the 90 minutes somehow seemed the best-cast of the three. Though wooden at times, Gore was obviously well-prepared, if sometimes overly programmed. Retired Vice Adm. James B. Stockdale, though likable enough, probably did no great good to the plausibility of Ross Perot’s candidacy. At times he seemed out of his depth, though--like Perot on Sunday--he did rocket off a few nifty one-liners.

The salience of a VP debate in a presidential election is questionable. It’s the candidate at the top of the ticket whom voters mull over most. Even so, they will want to reflect on the fact that in the event of some tragedy, it’s the VP who moves into the big job. It is one of these three men who will have that opportunity. This debate was entertaining, sometimes rowdy and occasionally ridiculous. What it wasn’t was unimportant.