Quayle Shows Clear Signs of Presidential Ambitions

Standing on a stage at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace on Thursday, former Vice President Dan Quayle recalled the late President’s advice never to “curry favor with your critics,” and said the Bush Administration lost the 1992 election because it had done the opposite by following Bill Clinton’s campaign agenda.

At the outset of an hourlong speech, Quayle looked across the crowd of 300 paying guests and asked rhetorically: “How in the heck did we lose the election?

“The reason we lost the election is that we bought into our opponent’s agenda. Richard Nixon knew that issue, that if you ever adopt your opponent’s agenda or try to curry favor with your critics, you will lose,” Quayle said.

“Because if you adopt your opponent’s agenda, you do not stand for anything. And if you do not stand for anything, then why are people going to support you?”

During the speech, which preceded a lengthy session of autographing copies of his new autobiography, Quayle also criticized the Clinton Administration for waffling on foreign policy and continued to espouse a conservative, Republican agenda on domestic issues.

But he did not have a clear answer when asked by a member of the audience about a California ballot initiative that would bar illegal immigrants from public hospitals and schools.

“It’s a very difficult question. It’s a very difficult problem,” Quayle said, adding that the North American Free Trade Agreement and enhanced border patrols might deter illegal immigration. He concluded that the “Save Our State” initiative would be a “significant step in the right direction” and merits consideration.

Quayle, who is using the national book-signing tour as a trial balloon for a possible presidential bid in 1996, was cheered by a crowd that typified Orange County’s reputation as a Republican stronghold. Library officials estimated that 3,000 people had lined up by 9:30 a.m. to purchase Quayle’s book and get his autograph. Two thousand copies of the book were sold, a record for any book-signing at the library.

Quayle’s appearance kicked off the library’s “1996 Issues Forums,” a series of presentations by political candidates, journalists and campaign strategists leading up to the 1996 presidential race.

The book has received attention because it includes blunt criticism of former Bush Administration officials, including Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp and Chief of Staff and Secretary of State James A. Baker III.

When told by one member of the audience that she felt the book contained a “little bitterness” on his part, Quayle responded: “I would not describe it as bitter; I am not a bitter person. I would describe it as setting the record straight, telling the media exactly what they did wrong.”

The Bush-Quayle ticket was widely criticized during the 1992 campaign for touting its foreign policy accomplishments but paying little attention to the nation’s longstanding economic slump.

But Quayle’s speech signaled his intent to focus on foreign policy in 1996, if he runs. He attacked Clinton for “leadership by consensus,” which he contended has led to mismanagement of foreign crises and the diminishment of U.S. influence and credibility around the world.

Using Haiti as an example, Quayle said the President was “conducting foreign policy by hunger strike” instead of exerting leadership, a reference to Clinton’s renewed focus on Haiti after a 27-day hunger strike by TransAfrica foundation director Randall Robinson to protest the forced repatriation of Haitian refugees by the United States.

As he turned to the domestic front--which drew more reaction from the audience--Quayle painted a dark picture of the Clinton Administration’s social and political agenda.

“They still have somewhat of a radical ‘60s mentality that believes in tearing down the Establishment, questioning the police, disdaining authority and trying to radically change our society,” Quayle said.

“I am somewhat impressed by the way Clinton is able to grab the center in the political arena. He is for everything,” Quayle added. “His style of communication . . . (includes) answering very important national security questions on MTV. It’s sort of ‘in your face’ communication about everything. But we need to watch what (Clinton Administration officials) do rather than what they say.”

In order to recapture the White House, Quayle said, Republicans need to articulate the themes that brought them success in the past--family values, tax cuts, welfare reform, choice in education and congressional term limits.

Republicans, he added, “need to really get their act together” on the health care issue and call for radical reforms in the legal system that drives up medical costs.

Quayle also disagreed with a member of the audience who described Republicans as “chicken” on the “pro-life” issue.

But he said conservatives need to shift the debate “to issues that the pro-life community can begin to win,” such as opposition to tax-subsidized abortions, supporting a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion can be performed and requiring parental consent when a minor is involved.