By Ron Fournier
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - John Kerry, seizing control of his party Friday, tapped Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign manager to represent his interests at the Democratic National Committee.

John Sasso, 56, was named general election manager of the DNC. The position was created by the Kerry campaign and the DNC staff to give the nominee-in-waiting control of the party without upsetting the current structure.

Sasso will work with Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill and DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe to oversee presidential election activities at the party, officials said.

"I welcome him here at the DNC because I know his energy and experience will make us stronger," McAuliffe said in a statement.

McAuliffe is the party's best fund-raiser, credited with taking the DNC out of debt and updating its political technology. He is not a strategist or tactician - Sasso's strengths, and the appointment was privately welcomed by DNC staffers who said they needed more direction from Kerry.

"Chairman McAuliffe has worked for three years to get the party ready, we are in the best shape ever," Sasso said in the statement. "We are on our way to taking back the White House, and putting America back on track."

Sasso is the latest in a long string of Boston associates and allies of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who have joined the campaign since late last year, when Kerry's political fortunes looked grim. His hiring came amid tensions inside the Kerry campaign: A key part of his ad-making team, Jim Margolis, gave up his position as a senior adviser over a financial dispute.

Sasso, a longtime confidant of Dukakis, organized and ran the Massachusetts governor's presidential run in its earliest stages. He was forced to step down in September 1987 after acknowledging that he had given reporters a videotape that showed rival Joe Biden using the oratory of a British politician without attribution. The revelation set off further disclosures, including charges of plagiarism in law school, that forced the Delaware senator from the race.

Dukakis rehired Sasso a year later, when his campaign against then-President Bush was languishing under criticism from Republicans while Democrats were demanding a tougher response.

Sasso is president of Advanced Strategies, a business consulting firm specializing in government affairs and communications.