Today is 06/19/2026

The Seattle Times

Wednesday, October 14, 1992

Quayle, Gore Set Themes For Last Weeks -- Stockdale Never Answers Own Query: `Why Am I Here?'

Times News Services

It may be remembered more for its furious, even nasty partisanship than for any impact it might have on the outcome of 1992 presidential election.

But yesterday's clash of the running mates did reveal that the campaigns have decided on lines of attack for the next three weeks: President Bush against Bill Clinton's character and tax policies; Clinton against Bush's economic record; and Ross Perot against Washington politicians and their deficit.

In yesterday's debate, Vice President Dan Quayle and Sen. Al Gore Jr. of Tennessee did a better job articulating their campaigns' basic messages than President Bush and Arkansas Gov. Clinton did in Sunday's low-energy affair.

In the crossfire, retired Vice Adm. James Stockdale often seemed lost - a civilian who had wandered into a private war.

The succession of sharp clashes between Quayle and Gore over taxes, trust and character gave this debate a much rougher edge than the decorous first encounter between the presidential contenders. But traditionally, the vice-presidential debates have only minimally affected the outcome of presidential campaigns.

An ABC poll taken immediately after the debate showed Clinton leading Bush 47 percent to 38 percent, with Perot trailing at 12 percent. Those figures were virtually unchanged from a poll completed before the debate.

If yesterday's debate has any impact, some observers said, it may be to diminish the momentum Perot generated Sunday.

Although Stockdale's earthy directness occasionally echoed Perot's own success at knifing through his opponents' stilted political rhetoric, more often he appeared uncertain and overmatched; for long stretches in the free-form debate he disappeared entirely. Stockdale, a senior research fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution at Stanford University, never seemed to entirely answer the question he posed at the outset: "Why am I here?"









From 10/13/1992 ( ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 4629 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 7/6/1978 ( from me after 05/10/2006: the Annapolis Maryland United States Naval Academy Class of 1982 induction day for my biological brother Thomas Reagan the United States Navy Fleet Admiral circa 1976 ) is 4629 days









From 7/30/1983 ( Ronald Reagan, 40th President of USA federal government 1981-1989: Radio Address to the Nation on Organ Donorship and on Reform 88 ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 7992 days

7992 = 3996 + 3996

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 10/11/1976 ( United States of America Public Law 94-479 General of the Armies of the United States approved by 38th United States President Gerald Ford AND applies personally and professionally to my biological brother United States Navy Fleet Admiral Thomas Reagan ) is 3996 days



From 4/8/1977 ( from The Daily Princetonian publication, Princeton University: Students gaze through telescopes at planets, stars, galaxies, infinity ) To 6/16/2005 ( as Kerry Burgess my official records United States of America Veterans Affairs hospital includes: Date of Admission, psychiatric unit ) is 10296 days

10296 = 5148 + 5148

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 12/7/1979 ( premiere USA film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" ) is 5148 days



From 3/13/1914 ( from The Daily Princetonian publication, Princeton University: MENTAL PROCESSES ARE RESULT OF MECHANISMS Says Dr. Stewart Paton In His Fourth Lecture On Study Of Human Activities ) To 6/8/1993 ( commencement, Princeton University Class of 1993 ) is 28942 days

28942 = 14471 + 14471

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 14471 days



From 4/20/1776 ( from founders.archives.gov: From George Washington to the New York Committee of Safety ) To 7/18/1855 ( from This Week in Princeton History: Princeton has banned secret societies and students will be required to sign a pledge not to join one. Any student found to be in a secret society will be promptly dismissed. ) is 28942 days

28942 = 14471 + 14471

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 14471 days



From 1/16/1955 ( premiere USA TV series episode "You Are There"::"The First Flight of the Wright Brothers (December 17, 1903)" ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 18414 days

18414 = 9207 + 9207

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 1/17/1991 ( the date of record of my United States Navy Medal of Honor as Kerry Wayne Burgess chief warrant officer United States Marine Corps circa 1991 officially the United States Apache attack helicopter pilot ) is 9207 days



From 12/25/1991 ( an aviator in non-aviator related duties boots on the ground as United States Marine Corps chief warrant officer Kerry Wayne Burgess I was prisoner of war in Croatia ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 4922 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 4/25/1979 ( premiere USA TV "You Can't Go Home Again" ) is 4922 days



From 9/23/1952 ( the Checkers televised speech by Richard Nixon ) To 5/7/1992 ( the first launch of the United States space shuttle Endeavour orbiter vehicle mission STS-49 includes me Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps commissioned-officer and United States STS-49 pilot astronaut and my 1st official United States of America National Aeronautics and Space Administration orbital flight of 4 overall ) is 14471 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 14471 days



From 5/16/1992 ( the landing of the first flight of the United States space shuttle Endeavour orbiter vehicle mission STS-49 includes me Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps commissioned-officer and United States STS-49 pilot astronaut and my 1st official United States of America National Aeronautics and Space Administration orbital flight of 4 overall ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 4779 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 12/3/1978 ( premiere USA TV series episode "Battlestar Galactica"::"The Living Legend - Part 2" ) is 4779 days



From 7/26/1947 ( the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States of America established ) To 3/9/1987 ( "The Joshua Tree" by U2 ) is 14471 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 14471 days



From 4/15/1959 ( from Wikipedia on the global-internetwork: Hundreds turned out in Oklahoma City to see whether Otis T. Carr would launch a flying saucer ) To 11/27/1998 ( premiere USA TV series episode "The Outer Limits"::"The Origin of Species" ) is 14471 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 14471 days



From 11/21/1964 ( premiere USA TV series episode "The Outer Limits"::"The Inheritors - Part 1" ) To 7/5/2004 ( premiere USA TV series "UFO Files" ) is 14471 days

From 11/2/1965 ( my known birth date in Antlers, Oklahoma, USA, as Kerry Wayne Burgess ) To 6/16/2005 ( ) is 14471 days



- by me, Kerry Wayne Burgess, posted by me: 10:53 PM Pacific-timezone USA Friday 06/19/2026