LESTER HOLT, anchor:
A familiar name in
American politics
is back in the news these days; the name is
Quayle
, but this time the candidate is not
Dan Quayle
, it's his 33-year-old son
Ben
, who's got a big test coming up at the polls on Tuesday, and he's taking direct aim at the president. Here's NBC's Kelly O'Donnell.
KELLY O'DONNELL reporting:
Take a political name like
Quayle
...
Unidentified Man:
I'm just wondering if
Ben Quayle
can count on your support for
Congress
.
O'DONNELL:
...and a provocative, some say outrageous, judgment about the president...
Mr. BEN QUAYLE:
Barack Obama
is the
worst president
in history.
O'DONNELL:
...and you have campaign dynamite. But
Ben Quayle
is unapologetic.
Mr. QUAYLE:
I think that he has fundamentally changed our country for the worse in a very short amount of time. But it was not a statement I took lightly, but it was a statement that I believe in.
O'DONNELL:
A conservative like his famous father,
Dan
, who helped him raise more than a million dollars,
Quayle
is a lawyer and small businessman who wants to represent
Arizona
in
Congress
.
Mr. DAN QUAYLE:
He's a smart, honest, hardworking individual.
O'DONNELL:
But can he win?
Quayle
is one of 10
Republicans
fighting for the nomination. The others have their own strengths, including a wealthy businessman and several local officials. But
Quayle
is far ahead in campaign cash.
Mr. E.J. MONTINI (The Arizona Republic Columnist):
It's a very crowded field, and I'm sure it'll be wildly helpful to him only because he has way more money than everybody else.
O'DONNELL:
Despite those advantages, this is a tough race. Opponents have accused
Quayle
of misleading voters by, quote, "renting a family" for this campaign brochure. Those girls are actually his nieces. And they pounced on
Quayle
's tie to a racy
Web site
called
The Dirty Scottsdale
. In
2007
,
Quayle
wrote postings he called satire.
O'DONNELL:
Critics say it harms his
family values
image.
Mr. MONTINI:
This site you're talking about, you know, trying to find the hottest girls in
Scottsdale
and what tremendous prowess you have, it doesn't seem to mesh very well.
Mr. QUAYLE:
You know, it's something that is in the past, and we're going to focus on the issues going forward.
O'DONNELL:
He's not new to bare-knuckle tactics and intense scrutiny.
Mr. QUAYLE:
I saw the bad side of politics. I saw what they did to my father and what my family had to go through, and I didn't know if I wanted to put my own family through that.
O'DONNELL:
With no experience in any kind of
local politics
,
Quayle
says being the son of a former vice president is actually one qualification to run for
Congress
because he says he has seen how
Washington
works up close.
Ben Quayle
was a teenager when his dad left office, and
Washington
is the target this year. With 10 Republican candidates in this winner-take-all primary, there's no guarantee a big name and
big money
can lock in a win. Kelly O'Donnell, NBC News,
Scottsdale
.
“ ”