Marathon Man

By WALTER SHAPIRO

Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis was a long-distance runner before it was cool, finishing the Boston Marathon as a high school senior in 1951. His political career had its own Heartbreak Hill, a devastating primary defeat when he first sought re-election as Governor in 1978. But Dukakis hit his stride with a comeback victory in 1982, and since then has compiled a record of achievement from welfare reform to tax reduction that has earned him a laurel wreath as one of the best Governors in the country. Last week Dukakis embarked on the most grueling endurance race of them all, an uphill quest for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. "I have the energy to run this marathon," the 53-year-old Governor declared, "the strength to run this country, the experience to manage our Government and the values to lead our people."

But does Dukakis, often viewed as too aloof and cerebral for national politics, have the vision to inspire Democratic voters? The son of Greek immigrants, he lacks the poetry of New York Governor Mario Cuomo. But Cuomo is not a candidate, and that leaves Dukakis as the only Northeasterner and the , only ethnic Democrat in a field further narrowed last week when Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers announced he would not run.

In place of stirring rhetoric, Dukakis offers his own stewardship of a surging state economy that has transformed Massachusetts from industrial stagnation to New Age affluence. Dukakis has been refining this message of economic regeneration since he began nurturing dreams of the Oval Office after his landslide re-election victory last November. An initial foray into Iowa drew mixed reviews. But Dukakis, generally far more impressive in small groups than on a podium, gave a relaxed and polished performance at the New Hampshire state Democratic dinner early this month. His speech combined a vision of an entrepreneurial yet compassionate Democratic Party, pointed references to local issues like his opposition to the Seabrook nuclear power plant, and a rare evocation of his immigrant heritage.

At least initially, the fact that New Hampshire is right next door vaults Dukakis ahead of other Democratic dark horses. Recent polls there show Dukakis running a strong second to Front Runner Gary Hart. But much of Dukakis' early support is linked to high name recognition, and Joseph Grandmaison, a veteran New Hampshire party organizer, says voters there may view Dukakis more as an admired neighbor than as a would-be President. Even if Dukakis does well in the Granite State, he will be dismissed as a regional favorite son unless he then holds his own in the Southern primaries.

Dukakis' New England ties mask a major disadvantage: his circumscribed career has brought him no closer to foreign policy than his morning newspaper. Dukakis' positions, which are still hazy, smack more of Harvard than of the heartland, which may be a problem in the South. He opposes the President's policies in Central America and on Star Wars but has yet to offer a positive program other than wispy references to world peace. Nonetheless, Dukakis' pragmatic liberalism is appealing to a party searching for a post-Reagan philosophy. Pollster Geoffrey Garin contends that Dukakis is the only Democrat able to say, "I've seen the future, and I've made it work."

Dukakis has always seemed to prefer governing to the task of getting elected. But he declared in Iowa last month, "I will only run if it is fun." Marathons are always fun when the gun goes off. But in the arduous months ahead, Mike Dukakis must again confront the loneliness of the long-distance runner.

With reporting by Joelle Attinger/Boston