Former Veep Dan Quayle on RNC

This is a partial transcript from "On the Record," Sept. 1, 2004, that has been edited for clarity.

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GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Joining us from Telluride, Colo., is Vice President Dan Quayle.

Welcome, Mr. Vice President.

DAN QUAYLE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good evening, Greta.

VAN SUSTEREN: Mr. Vice President, these speeches are always exciting and fun to watch whether they are from the Democratic side or the Republican. But what do they actually mean for the campaign and the election?

QUAYLE: I think what you saw in tonight, with Vice President Cheney (search) speaking is how this campaign is going to be conducted. He'll be out there. He'll be on the attack. He'll be setting the agenda to some extent. But what was laid out to the American people tonight was the reason to elect George Bush (search). That he does have a vision for the future.

He has had some very tough situations. He inherited a weak economy, then 9/11 occurred, he responded to 9/11. We are now fighting the terrorists over there, rather than on the streets in New York City.

And he also took on John Kerry (search). He showed the inconsistencies of John Kerry throughout his 20 years in the Senate. And I think that is going to be a theme of this campaign. That it is the commander in chief and 20 years in the Senate, voting one way and then another way. All of these inconsistencies add up to somebody as being commander in chief, there is going to be a grave question raised. And that is why I think George Bush is going to come out of this convention in a very strong position.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, we're going to hear from the president tomorrow night, but are you satisfied tonight that the vice president laid out a domestic agenda that will satisfy voters?

QUAYLE: That is not his role, Greta. His roll is really to support the president, support the president's agenda, support the president's vision and point out the shortcomings of John Kerry. And I thought he did that with a in a very serious way tonight.

He went down the litany of votes of John Kerry and the statements that he has made. And if you listen to him, even if you are an objective, nonpartisan, you listen to what Dick Cheney said about John Kerry, were all facts. And it does really raise a question whether he is prepared to be commander in chief.

Now, tomorrow night, President George Bush will lay out the domestic agenda. He will lay out the vision. This is not the vice president's role. The vice president's role is to support the president and really take on the presidential candidate.

And Dick Cheney is very capable of doing that. He did it tonight and I presume that will the be the headlines tomorrow.

VAN SUSTEREN: Sir, you are certainly a student of foreign policy, you have been there making foreign policy with the president. Are you satisfied that we are on target in Iraq, instead of getting out of Iraq. Or are we sort of bogged down?

QUAYLE: I don't think we're bogged down. From the very beginning, the president said that this is going to be a long campaign. Even though the major combat was finished in a matter of days and weeks, he did say, even at that famous speech on the carrier, that this war against terrorism is a long, ongoing war. And Iraq has been a central focus of that war against terrorism.

Yes, the troops are not going to stay over one day longer than they are needed. But no, it is a very complicated, it is a very difficult, but there has been a lot of progress. You know it is very interesting, the people that come back, not just people in the armed forces, but civilians that are over there, they come back and they really have a lot of success stories to tell.

I know success stories doesn't make news, it is always what went wrong that makes the news. But there is a lot of success in Iraq. It is moving in the right direction. Would we like to see it quicker? Of course, we would.

But I am very confident in the long-term, that this was the correct decision. It was a correct decision for the United States, it was a correct decision for the world. And the world will be safer because of that decision.

VAN SUSTEREN: Sir, do you think that this election is dirtier, uglier, more aggressive than for instance, four years ago, or even the ones that you have been involved in?

QUAYLE: There are tough elections. And he had all of this senate campaign reform, but the forgot about the 527 groups. And you have $70 million that has been spent against George Bush and several million dollars spend against John Kerry in independent attack ads.

But no, I think this election is probably going to come down to the debates. And the American people are going look at President Bush and Senator Kerry and ask the question, who is best prepared to lead this country? Who has the record of accomplishment, who has the vision, who has the determination, who has the backbone, who has the consistency to be the president of the United States.

My hunch is, Greta, and I'm in the minority here, that after those debates I think it is going to swing one way or another. I think it is going to swing to President Bush, rather dramatically. I don't buy this idea that it is going to be a 50/50 vote again. I think you are going to see a comfortable victory by President George Bush in this presidential campaign.

But the electorate is going to make that determination after the debates and it is going to swing one way or another rather dramatically.

VAN SUSTEREN: Quick question: Is it going to be a large turn out in November, do you think?

QUAYLE: I hope so, but if history is any guide it probably will not be.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why?

QUAYLE: My guess is that it would be about average. No matter how much airtime that you give it and I applaud you for giving the conventions and the speeches by the president, the speeches by Senator Kerry as much airtime as possible, but I don't think — I hope there is a good turn out, but I don' expect one.

VAN SUSTEREN: Mr. Vice President, thank you for joining us. Always nice to see you, sir.

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