On Tuesday, the Arizona Capitol Times ran a story with the headline "Quayle Mailer Not Actually What Meets the Eye."
The article bashes District 3 Congressional candidate Ben Quayle for distributing campaign literature showing a picture of him with two toddler-age girls.
The criticism is that Quayle doesn't have kids and that the mailer misleads voters into thinking that he does.
In the article, the Cap Times quotes Quayle's campaign spokesman as saying the girls are the daughters of a member of the campaign staff who happened to be at the photo shoot.
And just like that, "niece-gate" was born.
Several national news outlets, as well as a few here in Phoenix, ran with the idea that Quayle was using random kids to come across as a family man to voters. One of his primary opponents even suggested the kids were "rented."
None of those news outlets who ran with the Capitol Times story bothered to call the Quayle campaign to see if it was even true.We did.
It turns out the kids in the photo actually are Quayle's nieces -- the daughters of his brother Tucker.
If you ask us, knowing the girls are Quayle's nieces makes the mailer far-less "misleading" than the original Capitol Times story would suggest. As you can see in the mailer (above) the three aren't exactly posing for a family portrait. Quayle's wife isn't in the picture, and there
isn't a dog in sight.
Just seems like a picture of a dude with some kids.
We can see how the ad could be misinterpreted by someone unfamiliar with Quayle, but is it "misleading" knowing the girls are his nieces?
Vote -- and see the results of yesterday's poll -- below.
Yesterday's poll question: Should County Attorney Seek Death Penalty in Chandler Officer Murder?
- 62 percent say yes.
- 38 percent say no.
Here is your morning poll:
