INDIANAPOLIS — Dan Quayle knows a little about what Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is going through and he advised her to "just be yourself."
Twenty years ago, an older, experienced Republican presidential candidate, George H.W. Bush, surprised many when he selected Quayle, then a little-known Indiana senator, to be his running mate.
The former vice president said Wednesday that he's spoken with Palin since Sen. John McCain chose her for the GOP ticket in late August.
"I basically said, 'Look, just be yourself. You were selected by John McCain because of who you are and what you have done, and don't let them take anything away from you. Just go out and be yourself,'" he said.
Quayle said he sees several parallels between the 1988 campaign and this year's race: Neither he nor the Alaska governor were well known before being put on the national ticket. Both were criticized for not having enough experience for the job.
"She has more executive experience than Barack Obama," Quayle told reporters Wednesday
After campaigning for former aide Greg Zoeller, the Republican candidate for Indiana attorney general, Quayle told reporters Wednesday he thought Palin had more executive experience than Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and her selection drew fresh attention to the GOP campaign.
"It sort of froze everything for a moment," he said. "It forced the American people to take another really hard look at John McCain."
He hopes Republicans see results similar to 1988, when the Bush-Quayle ticket went on to win.
"We went up in the polls, and we ended up winning 40 states," Quayle said.
Recent polls have shown Obama ahead of McCain nationally and a tight race in Indiana, which hasn't backed a Democrat for president since 1964. Quayle, however, predicted Indiana would line up for McCain: "I don't view this as a battleground state."
Gov. Mitch Daniels and some other Republican have said McCain, who hasn't visited Indiana since July 1, should made a return visit. Palin plans a rally Friday in Noblesville, 20 miles north of Indianapolis. Obama has made six Indiana stops since mid-July.