Former Vice President Dan Quayle predicted Mike Pence would not take on the traditional attack dog role that vice presidential candidates often do. | AP Photo Quayle salutes Trump for Pence pick "It shows how he’s probably going to govern,” the former Bush 41 VP says in his first public comments since the announcement.

INDIANAPOLIS — Former Vice President Dan Quayle praised Donald Trump for making a “great choice” in picking Mike Pence as his running mate, telling POLITICO that the move would help calm a cross-section of voters who may have otherwise been nervous about the billionaire real estate mogul atop the ticket.

“It gave a lot of comfort to Republicans, independents and some disenchanted Democrats,” Quayle said by telephone on Saturday in an exclusive interview. “It’s a great choice for Donald Trump and hopefully they’re on the road to victory.”


Quayle had already said in May he would support Trump in the general election, putting him a step ahead of both his former boss, George H.W. Bush, and his boss’s son, George W. Bush. Asked whether the former presidents were any closer to backing Trump, even if they won’t publicly say so, Quayle replied, “Clearly in their heart of hearts I should hope they would want a Republican president, but they can speak for themselves.”

By picking Pence, Quayle said Trump had sent a clear signal on what kinds of people he’d put into his administration if he wins in November. “It shows how he’s probably going to govern,” he said. “This is a very important decision for him to make to let the world know the kind of people he’s going to put around him … It means Donald Trump is going to put that type of an individual in his Cabinet and have advisers like that in the White House. That’s a good thing.”

Quayle, an Indiana senator when George H.W. Bush made him his surprise vice presidential pick in 1988, has known Pence for more than two decades. “I helped him run for Congress when he was successful and also he was unsuccessful,” Quayle said. Now under the national spotlight, Quayle predicted Pence would not take on the traditional attack dog role that vice presidential candidates often do because of his long history avoiding negative personal campaigning.

“My guess is he’ll stick to the policy and believe me he will point out the shortcomings of Hillary Clinton. There are many of them,” Quayle said. “It will be policy driven. It will not be giving in to a lot of personalities. It will be very factual based. It’ll be hard hitting, but it will be facts.”

Even with the addition of a fellow Indianan to the ticket — if elected, Pence would be the country’s sixth Hoosier vice president — Quayle said he wouldn’t be changing his plans to attend the Republican National Convention that starts Monday in Cleveland.

“I haven’t been to the convention since 1996,” Quayle said. “I think he’ll do just fine without me there. It’s his show.”

Quayle said he spoke with Pence Friday but declined to describe what their conversation entailed beyond general encouragement as the governor enters the additional “cocoon” of Secret Service protection. “It’ll be a change of lifestyle for his whole family,” Quayle said, “but he’ll handle it well.”

