Congratulations From One Dukakis to Another

For months now, in scores of campaign stops from Miami to Seattle, Democratic presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis has boasted of first cousin Olympia and how she was going to win an Oscar for her role in “Moonstruck.”

“1988 could be the year of the Dukakii,” he said over and over using the Latin.

On Sunday night, Dukakis and wife Kitty finally saw “Moonstruck,” their first movie in more than a year, back home in Brookline, Mass. And on Monday, Olympia won the Academy Award for best supporting actress.

“You were unbelievable. You were radiant. You were fantastic. You were fabulous,” politician Dukakis gushed to actress Dukakis over the phone from the Greenwich Village restaurant Grande Ticino, which figured heavily in the film.

Campaigning here for the April 19 New York primary, the candidate first saw the Academy make the award on TV while he was awaiting a rally on Staten Island. At the restaurant later, he watched a videotape of the award and raised a glass of sparkling white wine when she accepted the award with a rousing, “OK, Michael, let’s go!”

“I’m so proud of you,” the candidate told his cousin. “Everybody in the cast was terrific. But my cousin was the best. The best. You were unbelievable.”

He added, “What are we doing here, you and I? Just a couple of street kids. . . . I’m so happy for you.”

After hanging up, Dukakis offered a toast to his cousin, telling reporters that she is running to be a delegate for him in the New Jersey primary June 7.

“I hope it’s a sign of good things to come for the Dukakii,” he said with a grin.