Former governor Michael Dukakis is "cautiously optimistic" about Democratic nominee Barack Obama's chances in November and said Republican nominee John McCain's shift to personal attacks are part of the usual GOP playbook, the New York Observer reported Tuesday.

In a lengthy interview, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee discussed how impressed he has been by the Illinois Democrat's campaign, what he thinks of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's addition to the GOP ticket and his relationship with vice presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Dukakis also struck back against the McCain campaign's recent attacks on Obama's character, such as Palin's recent attack on Obama's relationship to William Ayers, the leader of the 1960s group the Weather Underground.

"Well, it happens every time," Dukakis, of Brookline, told the Observer with regards to the negative attacks. "They're desperate; they're slipping, and all of that stuff. So here we go."

Dukakis maintained that he is "cautiously optimistic" about Obama's chances in large part because "this is a much better campaign than I ran in 1988," he said. "I'm impressed."

In particular, Dukakis credited the Obama camp for responding quickly and effectively to McCain's attacks. Most recently, the Obama campaign responded to Palin's attack by firing back with McCain's connection to Charles Keating, a real estate developer that played a significant role in the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s.

According to the Observer, Dukakis called Obama's operation "the best thing that's been put in the field, in my opinion, since John Kennedy."

The former governor also said that McCain is grasping at straws.

"Mississippi's only down six or seven," he said. "I've got some friends down there who say it's a hell of a lot closer than the numbers say. But if you don't have an organized effort, people are going to say, ‘Hey, where's the campaign?' But certainly in 18 or 20 states, they've got some great stuff going. And McCain has nothing. Nothing."

Dukakis also said the McCain's picking Palin as his running mate was a serious mistake.

"When it comes to [the vice presidency]," he told the Observer, "the single-most important criteria always - I mean it just dwarfs everything else - is: Can this person be a good president if, God forbid, something happens to you? By that criteria, this is a pathetic selection."

On the other hand, Dukakis applauded the Obama's tapping of U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, of Delaware. Biden and Dukakis faced off in 1987 for the Democratic nomination and Dukakis top aide, John Sasso, leaked a tape of a speech by British labor leader Neil Kinnock that Biden lifted lines from in the closing statement of a debate. The video was widely credited with significantly damaging Biden's chances at the nomination.

Dukakis personally apologized to Biden at the time and the former governor told the Observer that he was impressed by the way Biden handled the ordeal. "He was nice enough - and frankly, I'm not sure I would have done it, given what happened - to make a big campaign appearance with me in Philadelphia during that campaign," Dukakis said. "He was nice enough to do that."

"Joe's a real plus for Obama," he also noted. "They just go well together. It's a good team."

The New York Observer and the Politicker.com network are owned by the Observer Media Group.