Senator Michael Dukakis?

I can't take credit for starting this scoop, as I read it on The Political Wire, but I can provide some glimpses into what type of Senator Michael Dukakis might be.

First, let me get on with a full disclosure. Michael Dukakis went to my alma mater, Swarthmore College. Second, he also ran cross-country at Swarthmore, like I did. So, although he is definitely left of me on the political spectrum, (I have never found his views incompatible with mine), I can admit I am probably in the tank for him due to our common background.

That being said, he has some serious shortcomings, at least in the public eye.

He ran one of the worst presidential campaigns of the last 50 years.

* He ignored the Willie Horton ad smear campaign crafted by Lee Atwater and discounted the fact that, yeah, a lot of Americans really aren't smart enough to see through that trash.

* He is very smart and doesn't know how to consistently speak in language that is understandable by many of the people trying to listen to him.

* He allowed himself to be filmed in an army tank with a helmet on. The RNC didn't even have to add words (but they did) when they ran a commercial with those images.

But....and these are some big buts, a Senator and the Presidency are very, very different. Despite the fact that whenever a senator looks in the mirror they see a potential presidential candidate, the actual responsibilities and talents required to be good at the job are very different. Some people who probably would have failed miserably as President have gone on to be very, very good senators. In fact, I would say this is probably true of the person Dukakis would be replacing, the late Senator Ted Kennedy.

Dukakis would not be more liberal than Ted Kennedy (that is almost impossible).

Dukakis is smart and knowledgeable about both domestic and international issues.

Dukakis is a really good guy. I mean a really good, down to earth guy. The kind of guy that if you struck up a conversation with at a local coffee shop, you would find yourself still there fully engaged in the conversation an hour later not knowing what happened to the time. I think he could wind up working well within the halls of the Senate, trying to find common ground with the few moderates there.

Apparently, his selection would not be a boost to Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick's re-election attempt, as Dukakis still has some serious negatives in his home state, mostly due to his inability to offset the impact of the 'soft landing' of the US economy on Massachusetts.

BTW, Dukakis would be the 2nd Swarthmore grad from the mid-50s in the senate as Michigan senator Carl Levin graduated in 1956, one year after Dukakis.