You don't hear it discussed much,

but one of Kerry (aka Barbie) Healey's slams on Deval Patrick is that he'll be another Mike Dukakis.

...Carl Ray Songer and Ben LaGuer will not only be the Willie Hortons of this race, but they will serve as a major wake-up call for Massachusetts voters who have buried their head in the sand on how outrageously liberal Deval Patrick is. He is another Mike Dukakis and there will be no miracle for our state.

Holly Robichaud is a Republican strategist.

Boogity boogity (definition one). I don't think I was comatose through the Dukakis years, but for some reason I remember them as a time of sanity and prosperity. Go figure.

My guess is that the "scary Dukakis" meme is about as powerful a negative motivator in MA as the "scary Pelosi" meme is nationwide. Which is to say, not at all, except among the (small) percentage of committed republicans in the state. "Willie Horton" is not viewed around here as a moral high point in republican campaign tactics. And Kerry Healey's subterranean racist campaign is following close in its footsteps.

The mild anger roused by this particular campaign angle, was brought to the surface when I saw Mike and Kitty Dukakis at the Deval Patrick rally yesterday. They were standing quietly near the back of the crowd, just two more MA voters for Deval. After the rally was over, I looked over - they were surrounded by a big clump of people who wanted to say hello and shake hands.

Mike Dukakis is a thoroughly decent man, a solid citizen of the state, and in Massachusetts at least, he is not a punchline. Put Mitt Romney in the middle of a crowd in Boston and check out the public response he provokes. Or Barbie Healey, for that matter. They can only dream of inspiring the kind of affection the Duke has earned.