ben_quayle_redPolitico’s latest encapsulation of Quayle’s situation is hard to argue with:

Republican congressional candidate Ben Quayle’s glossy campaign photos and polished talking points paint for voters a portrait of a longtime Arizonan, accomplished attorney and family man who will bring a “new generation” to Washington.

The claims reflect the small biographical exaggerations that often accompany a political newcomer’s first campaign. The reality is that Quayle has held three jobs in four years, posed for pictures in campaign literature with children that were not his, and grew up in Washington with a famous father, former Vice President Dan Quayle, whose influential friends have given generously to the younger Quayle’s campaign.

But Quayle, 33, has had to confront a much bigger credibility issue this week after a blogger revealed that he had once been a contributing writer for Dirty Scottsdale, a raunchy, sex-themed website that covered the club scene in his adopted home town before morphing into the national gossip site TheDirty.com.

[…]

Quayle’s connection to the site has undercut the carefully honed image of a conservative with strong family values, and his inept handling of its disclosure brings up a different association with the Quayle name – his father’s gaffe-prone history.

Meanwhile, Quayle released a new campaign commercial today, in which, he calls Barack Obama “the worst president in history.”



… which is pretty funny.

Quayle’s father, of course, is frequently cited—here and here for example—as among the worst vice presidents in U.S. history.

And Young Benny Quayle himself isn’t exactly going to go down as one of the best congressional candidates in history.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/22/uselections2008.usa