Dukakis: McCain's Palin pick 'pretty pathetic'

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By Stephen Dinan

UPDATED:

Former Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis said Friday it was "pretty pathetic" for Sen. John McCain to choose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, and questioned the Republican candidate's use of a Karl Rove protege to run his campaign.

In an online chat with The Washington Times, Mr. Dukakis, former Massachusetts governor and now a professor at Northeastern University, said that's just one sign Mr. McCain has changed for the worse since his failed 2000 presidential campaign.

"His selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate was, I thought, pretty pathetic. I made a lot of mistakes in 1988, but one of the things I did right was to select Lloyd Bentsen as my running mate," the former Massachusetts governor said in an online chat with The Washington Times. "The first and most important criterion for that selection was whether or not my running mate was ready to be president if, God forbid, something happened to me. Joe Biden clearly meets that test. Palin does not."

Mr. Dukakis surrendered a substantial lead in the polls to lose the 1988 election to then-Vice President George H.W. Bush.

He said his biggest mistakes were not responding to Republican attacks and failing to put together a general election operation to organize and turn out voters.

"Fortunately, Obama understands that, too, and he has put together one of the best grassroots operations we have ever seen in nearly two dozen battleground states. In fact, if there is anything that has given him momentum, in addition to his own performance on the campaign trail, it has been his field organization, and I believe it will be decisive on November 4. McCain, by contrast, has virtually no field operation, and it shows."

Mr. Dukakis said Mr. McCain has changed for the worse since his failed 2000 campaign for the Republican nomination.

"I don't know if it is because he is getting older and this is his last shot at the presidency, but I don't think the John McCain of old would have hired a Karl Rove protege to run his campaign, and I certainly don't see the John McCain who stood up and denounced tax cuts for the rich when they were proposed by Bush and a responsible approach to immigration."

• For the entire transcript of the chat, click here.

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ORIGINAL TEXT:

Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis had some fighting words for Sen. John McCain during a live chat with The Washington Times on Friday:

Q: Your thoughts on John McCain -- I saw that you and Tommy Thompson got cross-wise with the Senator recently. Can you tell us about that?by Washington DC

A: "Something has happened to the John McCain of eight years ago. I don't know if it is because he is getting older and this is his last shot at the presidency, but I don't think the John McCain of old would have hired a Karl Rove protege to run his campaign, and I certainly don't see the John McCain who stood up and denounced tax cuts for the rich when they were proposed by Bush and a responsible approach to immigration.

"And his selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate was, I thought, pretty pathetic. I made a lot of mistakes in 1988, but one of the things I did right was to select Lloyd Bentsen as my running mate. The first and most important criterion for that selection was whether or not my running mate was ready to be president if, God forbid, something happened to me. Joe Biden clearly meets that test. Palin does not."

• For the entire transcript of the chat, click here.