Dan Quayle on family values: Epideictic appeals in political campaigns

Abstract

This study examines Vice President Dan Quayle's call for a reassertion of family values in the context of the presidential campaign of 1992. The study begins by establishing the milieu of the campaign and the derivation of it's rhetorical strategy from Vice President Agnew. The study concludes that Quayle was effective in re‐ordering the political agenda, and consolidating the support of the right by playing on dialectical tensions grounded in values. But his appeals were undercut with the general audience because of his lack of credibility as an epideictic speaker and Americans’ suspicions about politicians issuing moral advice.