BOSTON — Michael Dukakis proudly positioned himself on the left after the 1988 Democratic Convention nominated him for president, but at the 2004 convention, the former governor of Massachusetts seems simply left out.
His modest hope for a chance to wave to delegates this week still wasn’t in the cards for the party loyalist who served three terms as governor before pronouncing himself a “card-carrying ACLU member” during a famously failed presidential campaign.
Despite Mr. Dukakis’ role in carrying John Kerry into his first elective office as Massachusetts’ lieutenant governor in 1983 — his springboard to the U.S. Senate two years later — there was no sign that Mr. Dukakis, 70, will appear in this week’s parade of party notables.
Instead, he plans to guide a walking tour tonight through the historic downtown.
Democrats weren’t talking, but a Republican watchdog group pounced on the issue late yesterday in an e-mail headlined “Have You Seen This Man?”
The broadside was illustrated with the famous picture of a helmeted Mr. Dukakis at the controls of a tank, the image that became a symbol of his lopsided defeat to George Bush.
Mr. Dukakis, the last Democrat from Massachusetts nominated as his party’s presidential candidate, served 12 years as governor and now is a political science professor at Northeastern University in Boston.
Many conventioneers remember him for the seemingly endless nominating speech by then-Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, who told the 1988 delegates that their nominee “believes actions are more important than words.”
While Mr. Dukakis awaited tonight’s walking tour, he attended a few delegation receptions, including the huge California soiree at the zoo, and yesterday, he reviewed his 1988 campaign mistakes for a group of convention interns.
“I’ll be here. It’s my hometown,” he told one group of delegates.
Kerry spokesman Phil Singer said he heard nothing about Dukakis appearances and referred questions to convention officials, who also offered nothing.
“Talk to the convention staff. The campaign decides,” Mr. Singer said.
Convention press secretary Lina Garcia said, “Each day we announce additional daily speakers. I cannot deny or confirm that he is on the program.”
Mr. Dukakis has made no public complaint and did not respond to telephone or e-mail inquiries about his plans.
Last week, the Associated Press reported that he “figures he’ll get to wave to the crowd this week and that’s about it.”
A flap over the lack of a speaking role for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York ended with Mr. Kerry’s calling her personally to invite her to handle last night’s introduction of Mr. Clinton.
Mr. Kerry’s two-year service under Mr. Dukakis is a little-known aspect of his resume. If the senator ever mentions it on the hustings, it is not recorded — although the Kerry campaign includes former Dukakis staffers.
After running for office without success, Mr. Kerry rode the bottom half of the Democratic gubernatorial ticket in 1982, then resigned from the state’s number-two office on Jan. 2, 1985, to enter the U.S. Senate.
“He was a terrific lieutenant governor,” Mr. Dukakis told a Dallas reporter last week.
As of last night, it appeared that Mr. Dukakis would do this week’s talking on the streets of his hometown. From 5 to 7 p.m., he’ll be guiding a “Walkable City” tour from Copley Square to the FleetCenter, where the convention is in progress.
“This is a one-time thing,” said Liz Levin, president of Walk Boston, which boasts of its longtime member that he walked and rode the subway even when he was governor.
“We asked him if he would like to walk. He’s very supportive of initiatives that make sense. I think he’s going to have a good time,” she said.
Yesterday, Mr. Dukakis reminisced at Suffolk University with interns from the Washington Center about his 1988 loss, warning budding politicians among them never to repeat his mistake of leaving charges unanswered and not to let opponents define the issues.
Mr. Dukakis’ lecture to students had a wistful tone about the 1988 loss, which some followers characterize as abidingly painful to him.
That memory appeared painful for officials of both the convention and Democratic Party, whose spokesmen declined to say anything conclusive.
Tony Welch, press secretary for the Democratic National Committee, noted from Washington that he was aware of the former governor’s appearances outside the hall.
cStephen Engel contributed to this report.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.