One need not go trolling through Nexis for quotes from prominent Democrats (and pundits) insisting that Dan Quayle lacked the qualifications to be vice president. He was elected to two terms in the House and two terms in the Senate (the youngest man ever elected to the Senate from Indiana). Quayle’s foreign policy credentials simply blow away Edwards’ by comparison. Whether foreign policy experience was more important in the declining days of the Cold War were more or less important than in the early days of the war on terror is an interesting debate.

Neverthless, I think one quote is worth dredging up. In 1988 John Kerry got into a lot of trouble — and eventually apologized — for telling the following joke when asked about Quayle’s qualifications:

“The Secret Service is under orders that if Bush is shot, to shoot Quayle.”