Dukakis Offers Massachusetts Apology

Gov. Michael S. Dukakis said he knows many Massachusetts residents feel angered and betrayed by his presidential loss and the damage it did to the state.

“It’s clear to me now that I underestimated the amount of time and energy it takes to seek the modern presidency. Trying to do two jobs at the same time was more difficult and more grueling than I expected,” Dukakis said in his final State of the State speech Tuesday night.

“And I underestimated the toll it would take on my family, too.”

Dukakis’ wife, Kitty, entered an alcoholism treatment program shortly after his loss.

She received a standing ovation and perhaps the warmest applause of the evening when she stepped onto a balcony to watch her husband’s address.

Dukakis said he won the Democratic presidential nomination “swept up by the excitement and euphoria” of what he called the “Massachusetts Miracle.”

“But a funny thing happened on the road to the White House. I ran a great campaign for the primary, and a lousy one for the final,” Dukakis said. “I lost, and in the process Massachusetts took an unfair beating. And I feel terrible about it.”