Michael Dukakis

Former governor Michael Dukakis is “cautiously optimistic” about Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s chances in November and said Republican nominee John McCain’s shift to personal attacks are part of the usual GOP playbook, the New York Observer reported Tuesday.

In a lengthy interview, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee discussed how impressed he has been by the Illinois Democrat’s campaign, what he thinks of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s addition to the GOP ticket and his relationship with vice presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Dukakis also struck back against the McCain campaign’s recent attacks on Obama’s character, such as Palin’s recent attack on Obama’s relationship to William Ayers, the leader of the 1960s group the Weather Underground.

“Well, it happens every time,” Dukakis, of Brookline, told the Observer with regards to the negative attacks. “They’re desperate; they’re slipping, and all of that stuff. So here we go.”

State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, in the midst of her write-in re-election campaign against challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz, may face disbarment proceedings, the Boston Globe reports.

The Globe reports that the state Bar Counsel has filed a complaint against the Wilkerson, a Boston Democrat, for allegedly lying under oath during a 2005 court hearing.

Wilkerson's testimony at the Superior Court hearing was "intentionally false, misleading, and deceptive," the Globe quotes from the complaint.

Sonia Chang-Diaz (D) will likely win the recount, and if she does, her party's establishment is expected to fall in line behind her. Meanwhile, incumbent state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson is the big sore loser of the week. They're among this week's Winners & Losers. | CLICK HERE

Former Gov. and 1988 Democratic Presidential nominee Michael Dukakis: Getty Image

Former Gov. Michael Dukakis said Monday that John McCain's presidential campaign is using the same race-based tactics that were used against him in his 1988 presidential run.

The Brookline Democrat was referring to a recent McCain ad that claimed Democratic nominee Barack Obama received economic advice from Franklin Raines, the former CEO of the recently bailed out mortgage lender Fannie Mae. The ad features images of Raines and Obama, two African Americans, and then an image of an elderly white woman.

Asked if he considered the ad to be in the same vein as the infamous ‘Willie Horton' ad run by a third party group in support of George H.W. Bush in the 1988 presidential campaign, Dukakis told PolitickerMA.com: "Essentially, yes."

As candidates prepare for presidential and vice presidential debates, take a look at this clip of then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis' to a answer on the death penalty from CNN's Bernard Shaw.  It was a defining moment in the 1988 campaign, and in Dukakis' presidential campaign.

If John McCain is elected president, he will be the first of his generation to do so.

Born in 1936, McCain perhaps fits best in the 'Silent Generation,' who were typically born between the mid-1920s to the mid-1930s. This is the generation that came of age around 1950, fighting the Korean War instead of World War II, though McCain turned 18 the summer of 1954, a year after the armstice was signed. President George H.W. Bush was a part of the 'Greatest Generation' while Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are considered 'Baby Boomers.'

Only two other members of the Silent Generation have run for president, both in the 1980s: former Gov. Michael Dukakis (born 1933) and former Vice President Walter Mondale (born 1928).

McCain would also be the second graduate of the Naval Academy to become president. Jimmy Carter was the first. Carter was just outside of the Silent Generation by a year.

Former Mass. governor and presidential nominee Michael Dukakis: Getty Images PhotoFormer Mass. governor and Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis awaits Barack Obama's speech Thursday at the Democratic National Convention.

Check back tomorrow morning to view my sketchpad for day three of the Democratic National Convention, and go to my national blog to follow convention coverage by cartoonists from around the country.

If either U.S. Senators Joe Biden or John Kerry is Barack Obama's choice for a running mate, it will be the first time in history that a party's vice presidential candidate was also running in a primary for an unrelated office.