Dukakis Names New Political Director

BOSTON--Gov. Michael S. Dukakis yesterday named Paul Jensen of Washington, a veteran of national politics, to serve as the national political director in his Democratic presidential campaign.

Jensen, 42, a senior associate at Public Strategies, a Washington-based consulting firm, replaces Paul Tully, who resigned three weeks ago after admitting that he lied to the press about his involvement in distributing a videotape that undermined the presidential campaign of Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden.

In the Biden tape affair, Dukakis also lost his campaign manager, John Sasso, who created the anti-Biden tape and resigned after acknowledging he misled the governor about it.

Sasso's vacancy was filled on Oct. 8 with the appointment of Susan Estrich, a law professor on leave from Harvard Law School, to run the campaign With the appointment of Jensen, Dukakis has filled the last remaining gap in his senior campaign structure.

"I have worked very closely with Paul over the years and have great respect for him," Dukakis said in a prepared statement. "I'm extremely pleased to have him join our team."

Estrich said she has "enormous respect" for Jensen and said she was looking forward to working with him.

Jensen first met Dukakis in 1976, when Jensen served as deputy director of the Democratic Party's platform committee and Dukakis chaired the platform drafting subcommittee.

Jensen said he also worked closely with Dukakis on welfare reform and civil rights during the late 1970s when Jensen served in the administration of former President Carter.

"Those experiences convinced me that Mike is competent, smart, tough and not afraid to make decisions," Jensen said.

"Those traits, which I see as prerequisites for the presidency, combined with his leadership in bringing about the economic revival of Massachusetts, make him the most electable of all the Democratic candidates," he said. "I look forward to working in his campaign and in the general election."

Before joining Public Strategies, Jensen was the national political coordinator and labor liaison for Walter Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign, which Dukakis supported.

From 1981 to 1983, Jensen served as vice president of National Policy Exchange, a nonprofit public policy group which he organized.

From January 1977 to January 1983, Jensen was executive assistant and counsel to U.S. Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall. In 1976, he was an issues coordinator in the Carter-Mondale campaign.

Born in Colorado and raised in Minnesota, Jensen earned a master's degree in 1971 from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. In 1969, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn.

Jensen, who is married and has two children, will divide his time between Washington and Dukakis campaign headquarters in Boston.