President Woodrow Wilson ran for re-election in 1916 under the slogan, "Don't change horses in midstream" -- and one University political scientist said President Bush should follow this advice in deciding whether to keep Dan Quayle as his running mate.

Recent media speculation that Bush will drop Quayle from the ticket is unfounded, said Robert O'Connor, political science professor. Bush has said repeatedly that Quayle is doing a good job and will not be dropped, O'Connor said.

"I don't think there's any reason to believe he's lying," O'Connor said. "If he were to drop Quayle, he would have to have a real good excuse."

It would be especially hard for Bush to justify dropping the vice president because he personally chose Quayle as his running mate, despite opposition, O'Connor said.

"If you fire someone you chose yourself, you look dumb," he said.

But vice presidential candidates have never had much effect on presidential elections, O'Connor added. Voters choose between the presidential candidates, not their running mates, he said.

Quayle had the largest effect of any recent vice presidential candidate -- he only lost about one percentage point for Bush in 1988, O'Connor said.

Local representatives of the two major political parties agree that Bush will not drop Quayle.

"I think Quayle is going to stay," said John Hanold, a member of the College Democrats.

But Bush will keep Quayle as the lesser of two evils, Hanold added.

If the president drops Quayle, he will appear inconsistent, Hanold said. But by keeping Quayle, Bush keeps a political liability, he said.

"I think it's a lose-lose situation for Bush," Hanold added.

Jack Madore, chairman of the Centre County Republican committee, said he thinks Quayle will stay on the ticket. The vice president's unpopularity is due in part to mistreatment by the news media, Madore said.

"He's obviously been a public personage who the press has loved to pick on," Madore said.

Jennifer Beauseigneur (senior-liberal arts) agreed that the media have been hard on Quayle. For example, the media made too much of an issue of Quayle's failure to spell "potato" correctly, she said.

"They're making him look like an idiot," Beauseigneur said, adding that she has no intention of voting for Bush no matter who his running mate is.

Samuel Michaels (senior-Russian language translation) said it would be a bad idea for the president to drop Quayle after supporting him for so long.

"Keeping Quayle is bad, but getting rid of him is worse," said Michaels, who plans to vote for H. Ross Perot in November.

Molly Amick (graduate-mass communications) said she hopes Quayle stays in the race because she supports Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and Quayle only helps her side.

"Oh, I think the Republicans should keep him," Amick said. "I think they deserve him."

"I think it's a good marriage," she added.