Consider: When George Bush 41 tapped Indiana?s junior senator, Quayle had eight years of Senate experience under his belt, plus two terms in the House. By contrast, Edwards is finishing out his first Senate term.
In addition, Edwards has spent much of the last year or so on the road, campaigning for president. Back in January, Congressional Quarterly magazine reported Edwards had missed more than half of the recorded senate votes on issues where the White House had taken a position. It?s fair to say he?s been less than focused on his career as a lawmaker.
While Quayle served in the Senate, Newsday called him, ?a point man for the right on the Senate Armed Services Committee,? and said he?d ?played a leading role in making technical challenges to the INF treaty -- among other things, compelling Secretary of State George Shultz to ask the Soviets for clarifications.? There?s that ?temperament and experience? Carlson claimed he lacked.
Edwards, on the other hand, has been almost disconnected from foreign policy. He serves on four committees, but three of them deal exclusively with domestic issues. Even after Sept. 11, his campaign stump speech didn?t mention terrorism. Instead, he claims there are ?two Americas,? one a bright, sunny place for the wealthy, the other a dark, forbidding place for the rest of us.
But if there were another attack, the terrorists would be happy to kill people from either America. After all, it wasn?t simply investment bankers who died in the World Trade Center -- busboys at the Windows on the World restaurant were among the victims. A qualified vice presidential candidate would have a strong public position on the War on Terror.
The real difference between the candidates is that Quayle was a surprise pick, rolled out at the Republican convention with no advance warning. The press corps didn?t know him. Worse, they didn?t respect him, so they savaged him.
Edwards, on the other hand, has been seeking the presidency for years.
Members of the media know him, like him, and are prepared to ignore his lack of experience. It?s all about the care and feeding of the media beast.
During the Democratic primaries, Sen. Kerry asked his aides, ?What makes [Edwards] think he can be president?? What a pity that the press pack, so quick to shred Quayle in 1988, isn?t interested in answering that question.