Liberty's Blog

Kerry's Dukakis Years

MassachusettsRepublican lieutenant governor links Kerry to Dukakis Its amazing that this hasn't got press before. The Dukakis Years were devasting for the folks in Massachussetts. and Kerry was a part of this enormous failure.

Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey says John Kerry doesn't spend a lot of time on the campaign trail discussing his brief stint as Michael Dukakis' lieutenant governor. So she has decided to do it for him.

''Democrats are never going to talk about Kerry's record especially during the time when he was lieutenant governor for Dukakis. You will never hear the word Dukakis mentioned. They're hiding him under a rock,'' said Healey, who has a brief speaking role at the convention.

Kerry's decision to keep Dukakis at arm's length may be an effort to avoid a repeat of Dukakis' defeat. In the 1988 presidential race, Bush's campaign successfully painted Dukakis as a Massachusetts liberal out of touch with most of America.


''It's extremely important that I, as lieutenant governor, say 'Look, this is what Sen. Kerry was doing 25 years ago when he was in lock step with Gov. Dukakis and they raised taxes in a recession and put the Massachusetts economy right into the dump,''' Healey said.

The Massachusetts economy was strong in the early 1980s, a turnaround known then as the ''Massachusetts miracle.'' By the end of the decade, well after Kerry had been elected to the Senate, the economy tumbled again. Dukakis responded by raising taxes and borrowing money.

Healey has been trying to tighten the link between Kerry and Dukakis, particularly the recession that plagued Dukakis' last term, which ended in 1990. Kerry was elected to the Senate in 1984.

''We in Massachusetts know that there was no Massachusetts miracle, it was a Massachusetts disaster that resulted in the very Democratic state never electing another Democratic governor since that time,'' she said.

He was part of the conspiracy that destroyed the Massachusetts economy. I was one of his victims and become a refuge of the economy he created destroyed. His actions as a Senator wasn't as harmful, only because he personally didn't do very much.

posted by Liberty @ 6:18 AM