Dan Quayle Warns GOP About Dangers Of The Tea Party

Former Vice President Dan Quayle has a warning for the GOP -- "don't let the tea party go Perot."

In other words, Quayle is counseling against allowing the Tea Party to form the kind of third party that ended up costing President George H.W. Bush re-election in 1992.

In an Op-Ed to be published in Sunday's Washington Post, Quayle wrote that "[t]he emergence of official Tea Party candidates would be very welcome news in the Obama White House," because it would destroy what he sees as a current certainty that "Republicans will gain mightily" in November.

"All at once, a powerful and energetic counterweight to the Democratic establishment would become a splinter group, destroying the unified opposition it has helped to create," Quayle wrote.

In the Post piece, Quayle advised the GOP to reach out and embrace the Tea Party -- as the Republican Party did with the tax revolt movement in the late 1970's -- an effort that helped them get Ronald Reagan elected to the White House.

Comments

[Skyhawk]

10:51 AM on 04/13/2010

TEABAGGER = Totally Enraged About Blacks And Gays Getting Equal Rights.

[Amondale]

11:36 AM on 04/06/2010

I'm not surprised the tro//s are confused when they hear the name Quayle. Most of them were in diapers when Quayle had his potatoe and Murphy Brown incidents.

GOOGLE: Dan Quayle Murphy Brown potatoe

[Amondale]

11:30 AM on 04/06/2010

So obvious even a Quayle can spot it.

[cdmr9816]

09:32 AM on 04/06/2010

Mr Quayle is clearly concerned for his Party. His company may actually now be held accountable for paying taxes. The real Tea Party movement is not interested in joining the GOP. I think most of the people involved in this movement are good people who have worked hard and see it all blown away by greedy corporations and politicians. they are Americans who have been sold a lot of fear and are angry about the public debt (Which mostly comes from the hidden war cost and secret deals with Corporations like Haliburton under Mr. Bush 2/Cheney, and the GOP Congress). That fear and anger is being manipulated and used so they will, yet again, vote against their own interest. The real tea party members want good jobs and the ability to live their lives and care for their families. The GOP and F-X entertainment have created their own version of the movement (that's more public and better financed) and corrupted it. Our Moderate Republicans in Congress and in public life will now need to stop being cowed into silence and step up and work with the President and Democrats to address the issues our nation is facing. The GOP as a party has little life left in it. It is painful and sad that there is nothing we can do to stop it's suffering. Having a third or fourth political party could be a good thing for the country, tho not something Democrats or Republicans favor.

[VegasBabe]

08:42 AM on 04/06/2010

It's a no win situation for GOP'ers one way or another. To embrace the TP's is to support their racist beliefs. To not embrace, is to alienate these out of control folks. What they SHOULD have done a year ago was to put these folks in check from the door, bring them in line before they became so out of control and so apparently divisive. Now its to late. This however seems to bode well for democrats.

[farmilyman]

10:32 PM on 04/05/2010

Quayle has always been a little slow on the uptake. He doesn't realize the tea party was started by the Koch Brothers funded "think tanks" to create a (bowel) movement to energize the base.

[Stevo]

08:24 PM on 04/05/2010

I totally disagree with Quayle. I think the end of the Republican party is near. The Teabaggers are a crazed fringe group made up of very angry white people. Most Americans look at that and think, "no, that is not me." If the GOP wants to embrace that, they are essentially conceding defeat, admitting that they can't do it without their lunatic fringe. Unfortunately for the GOP, the Teabaggers can't be kept in check the way the religious right has been over the years. The Teabaggers are out in front and is slowly but surely becoming the face of the GOP. Meanwhile, whites are becoming a smaller percentage of the American population. Demographics is against the Teabagger movement. More importantly, the Teabagger movement goes against what most Americans believe in - equality, fairness, government working for the people, and optimism for the future. So long as the Dems don't screw up (and that's a big if), the GOP will be dead within 10 years.

[americancolonyinhell]

12:49 AM on 04/06/2010

nicely articulated

[Pippen]

07:30 AM on 04/06/2010

I tend to agree with most but this ".....whites are becoming a smaller percentage of the American population......" - this is accurate in high urban areas that are dominated by immigrants but Red State America is overwhelmingly white suburbans and rurals.

Don't underestimate their vote. They helped put GW father in office and his son for 8 years, approved a stolen national presidential election, looked the otherway when its clear 9/11 had some U.S. intelligence help to happen, and applauded when they were asked to send their sons to Baghdad for oil on a lie.

These citizens are devoutly bent on backing the devil himself if it gets them what they want. What that is I have no idea other than the demize of the minority and lower income citizens. Its racism straight up. Underestimate this influence and you'll lose every election.

[Michael Arnold]

08:31 AM on 04/06/2010

These citizens are devoutly bent on backing the devil himself if it gets them what they want.

What they want is to not have a non-white in the White House, that is what this crazies want. The T-baggers have nothing to do with a tax revolt, health reform, financial reform, etc, they want Obama out, nothing less.

[johnfoirdfw]

07:24 PM on 04/05/2010

Of course the Gumpy Old People should reach out to the angry white people.

[bingotownboy]

05:55 PM on 04/05/2010

This is the GOP grand plan.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/robert_parry/27742/theres_a_method_to_republican_madness

[free thinker 3-5-7]

05:01 PM on 04/05/2010

This from a guy that can't spell potato

[realpolitik78]

11:54 PM on 04/05/2010

I wonder if he thought there were 57 states? or that they speak austrian in austria, or that Iranians are Arabs.....

[dmsdzinr]

04:37 PM on 04/05/2010

It is Pretty Bad when a man who used to be the unintellectual of the GOP now makes MORE Sense than most Republicans today!

[PoliticalOutlaw]

06:38 PM on 04/05/2010

In defense of Quayle - he's just dumb, not certifiably insane - perhaps that's why he's making sense.

[Ralph Boyd]

03:56 PM on 04/05/2010

The TP is taking over the GOP.
And Quayle says that embracing the TP is key.
To a winning election strategy.
While Democrats snicker: "Tee Hee".

The TP shouts: "We must keep America Free!"
It's a question of Constitutionality.
To ignore the results of Democracy.
When the majority don't agree with me.

"Embrace that!" shouts Quayle our former VP.
Or the curse of Perot will be upon thee.
We must ignore Moderates Nationally.
At least till after the Primary.

So the stage is set, as you can see.
For the Democrats and the GOP.
With the Republicans as far to the right as they can be.
And Democrats taking moderates with glee.

[Coppelia1189]

03:41 PM on 04/05/2010

Trust me, the Republican establishment is scared to death of this movement. Tea Party members are unpredictable and absolutist. Nothing but complete adherence to their agenda will do. Republicans are mistaken to believe that the Tea Party is a Republican establishment party. They are true libertarians who do not respect any government authority or structure. And that includes them too. They simply don't believe in government, particularly federal institutions. Some of their agenda simply isn't logical or coherent, but that doesn't matter. The only big name they trust is Sarah Palin, and that's why I believe she will run in 2012. Anybody else is an also-ran in their eyes.

[mcmutter]

03:15 PM on 04/05/2010

Quayle, the biggest political JOKE of the GOP since Nixon.

People still can't believe he was selected as Vp .....

[keith1963]

03:50 PM on 04/05/2010

He was Palin before Palin. At least he could talk. The spelling is a different story.

[BebeLush]

03:07 PM on 04/05/2010

Wow, looks like the clouds are clearing and the Repubs are finally beginning to see just how detrimental these dimwits are to their party.