Michael Dukakis

Polls showed him trailing by anywhere between five and twelve points, but on the eve of the 1988 presidential election Michael Dukakis nonetheless predicted to cheering supporters that "Tomorrow, we're going to have a November surprise!" Less than 24 hours later, he had officially lost 40 states - and the election. It just goes to show you: Among true believers, optimism lingers until the very end.

When John McCain’s campaign made it clear over the weekend that their stretch-run strategy would lean heavily on raising questions about Barack Obama’s personal history and past “associations,” Obama’s communications director provided a simple, almost indifferent reaction to The Washington Post: “This isn’t 1988.” Michael Dukakis, the Democratic presidential nominee whose campaign was eviscerated that year by tactics ripped from the same playbook from which Mr. McCain now seems intent on borrowing, tends to agree.

BOSTON -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis is “cautiously optimistic” about Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s chances in November and said Republican nominee John McCain’s shift to personal attacks are part of the usual GOP playbook, the New York Observer reported Tuesday. In a lengthy interview, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee discussed how impressed he has been by the Illinois Democrat’s campaign, what he thinks of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s addition to the GOP ticket and his relationship with vice presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Dukakis also struck back against the McCain campaign’s recent attacks on Obama’s character, such as Palin’s recent attack on Obama’s relationship to William Ayers, the leader of the 1960s group the Weather Underground.

“Well, it happens every time,” Dukakis, of Brookline, told the Observer with regards to the negative attacks. “They’re desperate; they’re slipping, and all of that stuff. So here we go.”

State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, in the midst of her write-in re-election campaign against challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz, may face disbarment proceedings, the Boston Globe reports.

The Globe reports that the state Bar Counsel has filed a complaint against the Wilkerson, a Boston Democrat, for allegedly lying under oath during a 2005 court hearing.

Wilkerson's testimony at the Superior Court hearing was "intentionally false, misleading, and deceptive," the Globe quotes from the complaint.

BOSTON -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis said Monday that John McCain's presidential campaign is using the same race-based tactics that were used against him in his 1988 presidential run. A recent McCain ad attacking Democratic presidential nominee Barak Obama claims that the Illinois lawmaker received economic advice from Franklin Raines, the former CEO of the recently bailed out mortgage lender Fannie Mae. The ad features images of Raines and Obama, two African Americans, and then an image of an elderly white woman. Asked if he considered the ad to be in the same vein as the infamous ‘Willie Horton' ad from the 1988 campaign, Dukakis told PolitickerMA.com: "Essentially, yes."

Jersey City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis met one of his idols tonight.    

Among the familiar faces milling about the crowd in the Massachusetts delegation, seated just behind New Jersey, was a former presidential candidate and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who almost exactly 20 years ago took the podium himself.

Matsikoudis greeted him in Greek. 

“It was the first election that really grabbed me and got me hooked on politics.  I was inspired for a couple reasons – one it was the first time I paid attention to the issues, and I just found him to be on the smart side of the issues,” said Matsikoudis, 37.  “And of course as a Greek American, I was also moved by his candidacy.”

Former Mass. governor and presidential nominee Michael Dukakis: Getty Images PhotoFormer Mass. governor and Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis awaits Barack Obama's speech Thursday at the Democratic National Convention.

Check back tomorrow morning to view my final sketchpad for the Democratic National Convention.

As Barack Obama’s presidential campaign weighs whether to ask U.S. Rep. Mark Udall to introduce Obama on Thursday night, it’s worth noting that four years ago, it was the spotlight on the State Senator from Chicago that catapulted him onto the national political arena.  In 2004, Obama was a candidate for an open U.S. Senate seat in a race where his Republican opponent had dropped out.  The GOP was searching for a top-tier replacement – ex-Chicago Bears football coach Mike Ditka considered it – but his keynote address scared away the opposition; in the end, the best Illinois Republicans could do was perennial presidential candidate Alan Keyes. 

If either U.S. Senators Joe Biden or John Kerry is Barack Obama's choice for a running mate, it will be the first time in history that a party's vice presidential candidate was also running in a primary for an unrelated office.