With time on his hands, Dukakis takes a walk

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.”

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