The GOPfather Coda

The Dearth of Dan Quayle and the Godfather III Remix

Jack Hughes is truly obsessed with Dan Quayle. I don’t think Dan Quayle’s mother thought as much about Dan Quayle as Jack Hughes does. This week, Hughes compares Quayle’s political resurrection of sorts to The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, AKA Francis Ford Coppola’s recutting of his 1990 box office failure.

by Jack Hughes

Yes, this is my third post in The Experiment about Dan Quayle in just over three months. To those who don’t ‘get’ my newfound obsession – not least my wife – the only thing I can say, paraphrasing Francis Ford Coppola’s Michael Corleone, is “just when I thought I was out he pulled me back in.” That quote and the title above have a surprising link to America’s 44th vice president – one that now spans three decades.

In 1990, Coppola’s The Godfather, Part III was screening across the country where the harsh reviews it garnered stuck even after it left theatres. In 1990, Dan Quayle was serving his country and the harsh reviews he received stuck with him even after he left office. Quayle is, then, TheGodfather, Part III of Republicans – still the butt of jokes and object of scorn even after more than thirty years. But that could change.

In 2020, Coppola attempted to redeem his oft-maligned film – itself a story about redemption – by releasing a re-edited version. If you’ve read my firsttwo posts, you know I’m convinced Quayle is attempting to redeem himself in 2020 by relaunching his moribund and oft-mocked political career. (Readers are free to think that, like Coppola with The Godfather franchise, I, too, should’ve stopped after Part I and II.)

It begs the question can Quayle learn from Coppola? Yes, and let’s start by looking at the numbers. The closest thing a movie gets to an opinion poll is the ‘tomatometer’ (tomato, not potatoe) on the Rotten Tomatoes website. The Godfather, Part III (1990) got whacked with a lackluster 68% approval rating where The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone (2020) gets a whopping 89% – a 21-point jump.

That’s impressive insofar as Coppola really only changed two things: the beginning and the ending. (I’m being a bit facetious, it’s far more nuanced than that.) He made shrewd edits which clarified the movie’s plot and Corleone’s purpose from the first scene, and then used the faster start to create a sense of momentum. If Quayle can do so – clarify his purpose and create a sense of momentum – he’d be off to the races.

To that end, I think it can be argued Quayle started down this road when he recast himself as one of the first few high-profile Republicans to publicly call on Donald Trump to accept the 2020 election result. His shift from endorsing Trump for the presidency to encouraging him to give up the presidency was a sudden, dramatic plot twist that drew a clear, stark contrast between him and the other leading Republicans.

Quayle has since capitalized on his fresh start thanks to a series of events which have helped create a sense of momentum. It began when he, the swing-State of Arizona’s favorite adopted son, was named as an honorary co-chair of Karl Rove’s Georgia Battleground Fund in aid of Republican Senators Perdue and Loeffler. With control of the Senate in the balance, the stakes of those Georgia run-offs couldn’t be higher. 

Now, some naysayers will argue that just because he lent his name to a fundraising appeal doesn’t mean he wants to get back in politics – let alone presidential politics – he’s just being a loyal party stalwart. But when you consider that two of his fellow co-chairs are former Governors Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Chris Christie of New Jersey, both surefire candidates in 2024, it seems more strategic than altruistic.

Quayle then got a boost from the new CNN Films documentary President in Waiting which featured all the living vice presidents and presidents except Trump. Shown beside Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and, yes, Joe Biden, he looked vibrant. Quayle wasn’t exactly ‘trending’ on Twitter while it aired, but there was a clear trend in the tweets about him at the time: 

“Wait. That’s Dan Quayle? Why is he handsome?” / “Dan Quayle never looked so good” / “Dan Quayle looks much younger than I thought he would” / “really wish we had a Dan Quayle for the 2016-2020 term” / “I am glad the CNN show on the vice presidency puts him in a good light. Age has really changed his voice and appearance – it gives him more gravitas!” / “Dan Quayle looks great, frankly- very presidential!”

While all the other former vice presidents, including Biden, spoke about how they hoped to be remembered by history, Quayle seemed less at peace with the past saying “I miss politics. I miss being the vice president. Tried to be the president, didn’t work out. Of course, you miss it,” before adding somewhat unconvincingly; “but look, I’ve got a good life now…great life…great family. So, I’m very happy where I am.” 

The truth is Quayle has generated far better press in the past eight weeks than he did during all the preceding twenty-eight years. Most recently, he co-authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal ostensibly about an Arizona ballot initiative but in truth a jeremiad against increased taxes, left-leaning organizations, and “an onslaught of job-killing progressive policies” nationwide. Rare red meat for hungry conservatives.

To be clear, I’m not launching a ‘Draft Quayle for President’ campaign. First, I don’t think he needs to be drafted to run. Second, some argue his history with drafts is, ahem, not uncomplicated. And third, I’m not yet convinced if drafted he’d win. (The Experiment decision desk projected the 2024 Republican nominee will either be two-term Maryland Governor Larry Hogan or five-time WWF Champion Hulk Hogan.)

Still, Quayle has an undeniable advantage Coppola didn’t. With The Godfather, Part III, Coppola could only repurpose the original footage he’d shot thirty years ago. Quayle doesn’t face the same creative constraints. While he can’t escape the archival footage from the 80’s and 90’s (the “you’re no Jack Kennedy” clip from his Bentsen debate) he can always add to his highlight reel – then he’ll really be off and running. 

Jack Hughes is a communications consultant based in Canada. His previous contributions to The Experiment include “Same of Thrones,” “Tippecanoe and Agnew Anew,” “Harris / Shuri 2020,” and “Firth and Firthiness,” among others. His previous writings on Dan Quayle are “The Unusual Suspect” and “The Unusual Suspect II.”   

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