Massachusetts Miracle

All three Democratic presidential candidates pledge to reverse Reaganomics: less money for defense, more federal money for social services, and higher taxes on the rich. Yet none of these platforms is a reliable guide to effective leadership. Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis bases his policies on an exaggerated reading of his gubernatorial record. Many of Jesse Jackson's policies threaten the very poor he seeks to help. And Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr., who may drop out of the race today, evades economic realities.

Last week, after months of decline, Boston's image took a turn for the better. The parents of Carol Stuart, who police suspect was murdered by her husband for insurance money, announced a scholarship foundation for college- bound students from Mission Hill, the community blamed for Carol's death after she was wantonly shot in the head. Giusto and Evelyn DiMaiti were reaching out to a troubled black community and leading the way for the total community to come to terms with itself, as well as their daughter's brutal murder.

Maybe we should call it the Dukakis disease. In a buoyant economy, a governor rides high, basking in the good times. He happily takes credit. Then the local economy takes a big dive. Suddenly he's a political pariah. The Northeastern governors are getting a heavy dose of this Bay State malady. It began with a small stain of governmental red ink on Beacon Hill in 1988. It took the luster out of presidential candidate Michael Dukakis' "Massachusetts miracle" pitch. Now there's scarcely a state from Maine to New Jersey that doesn't face a Class One budget crisis.

BOSTON - Massachusetts may account for about 2 percent of the nation's population, but when it comes to nurturing White House dreams, the Bay State is a political boomtown. Since 1960, at least half a dozen Massachusetts politicians have launched serious campaigns for president, while a handful of others have toyed with the idea. Three captured their political party's nomination and one, John F. Kennedy, went on to occupy the office. The difference this election cycle is that the politician aiming to be the fourth major-party nominee from Massachusetts in the last five decades is a Republican, Mitt Romney.

With the specter of thousands of layoffs and draconian service reductions looming, Gov. Michael S. Dukakis yesterday grimly announced $491 million in cuts in his hemorrhaging state budget. The Democrat who tried to win the White House on the basis of his management of Massachusetts' economic "miracle" conceded that his actions - aimed at balancing a $12.3 billion budget - would drastically affect programs throughout the state. "The first $250 million hits bone and will cause real pain," Dukakis said during a packed noon news conference.

He's the size of Speedy Alka-Seltzer. He combines the earnest and naive qualities of Smokey the Bear with the soft whimsical humor of Jacko the Eveready Battery Bore. He's Michael Dukakis, and watch closely as Madison Avenue turns him from an average-guy-next-door into a slick-hippy-dippy product before your eyes. At this very minute, some of America's finest advertising minds are clustered in smoke-filled rooms trying to figure out how to sell Dukakis. This is the story of what they're up against.

Billing themselves as the brightest stars in the Republican constellation, the party's 32 governors have sought over the last three days to tell their Washington comrades that it's time to craft a kinder, gentler GOP image, and that governors should play a major role in making it happen. The message, voiced here at the annual meeting of the Republican Governors Association, boils down to this: The voters like us because we are pragmatic problem-solvers who put a priority on education.

SAVIMBI'S ANGOLA WOULD BE NONALIGNED It is curious that U.S. Rep. William H. Gray 3d should take the colonialist side in his recent diatribe against Jonas Savimbi, leader of the Angolan resistance organization UNITA (Op-ed Page, July 2). Mr. Gray tells us very little that was not already common knowledge about Mr. Savimbi's ideological background, suggesting that the Angolan leader may prove embarrassing to those who see him as an ally of the anti-communist West. Mr. Gray further charges that Mr. Savimbi is only interested in gaining power for his own advancement, but perhaps the congressman is inclined automatically to attribute his own motivations to others.

Remember the Massachusetts Miracle? This message of hope for obsolete industrial economies was one of the driving themes that won for Michael Dukakis the presidential nomination of his party. It was the message that fellow Democratic Gov. Casey said would "resonate" in Pennsylvania. We haven't heard much about that miracle lately. First, it fell under suspicion for not having been completely created by Dukakis. Then it was tainted by reports of state budget crises. Finally, we saw a polluted harbor and a criminal on furlough who raped someone.

Gov. Christie wants to throttle the steady rise of property taxes in New Jersey - already the highest in the nation - by following Massachusetts' lead. That state's property-tax cap, known as Proposition 2 1/2, has helped keep property taxes in check since it took effect in 1981. But experts warn that Massachusetts' experience also holds critical lessons for any state considering a similar approach. "New Jersey can't say, 'Look, it works in Massachusetts, and it will work here.