Ex-Dukakis Aide to Help Kerry With DNC
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By RON FOURNIER, AP Political Writer
WASHINGTON - John Kerry (news - web sites), seizing control of his party, tapped Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign manager to represent his interests at the Democratic National Committee (news - web sites).
John Sasso, 56, was named general election manager of the DNC, a position created by the Kerry campaign and the DNC staff to give the nominee-in-waiting control of the party without upsetting the current structure.
He will work with Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill and DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe to oversee presidential election activities at the party, officials said.
"I welcome him here at the DNC because I know his energy and experience will make us stronger," McAuliffe said in a statement released by the campaign. "With John's help in managing our efforts, we will elect John Kerry as the next president of the United States."
McAuliffe is the party's best fund-raiser, credited with taking the DNC out of debt and updating its political technology. He is not a strategist or tactician — Sasso's strengths, and the appointment was privately welcomed by DNC staffers who said they needed more direction from Kerry.
Said Sasso: "Chairman McAuliffe has worked for three years to get the party ready, we are in the best shape ever. We are on our way to taking back the White House, and putting America back on track."
Sasso, a longtime confidant of Dukakis, organized and ran the Massachusetts governor's presidential run in its earliest stages. He was forced to step down in September 1987 after acknowledging that he had given reporters a videotape that showed rival Joe Biden using the oratory of a British politician without attribution. The revelation set off further disclosures, including charges of plagiarism in law school, that forced the Delaware senator from the race.
Dukakis rehired Sasso a year later, when his campaign against then-President Bush (news - web sites) was languishing under criticism from Republicans and Democrats were demanding a tougher response.
Sasso is president of Advanced Strategies, a business consulting firm specializing in government affairs and communications. He has, for a dozen years, advised company executives on business strategy, public policy and government relations.
In 1993, President Clinton (news - web sites) appointed Sasso to the Fannie Mae Board of Directors. Sasso currently serves on the boards of the Fannie Mae Foundation and the Heller School of Social Policy at Brandeis University. |
