John Sasso excels at a very simple thing: he listens. He fixes people with a steady gaze and, unlike most political operatives, does not cut them short. It is a disarming trait and not a parlor trick. Sasso actually takes what he hears and factors it into his plans. For he is, above all, a strategist, and any bit of stray information will be used to formulate his design.
Sasso also excels at a very difficult task: he makes Michael Dukakis listen. The Governor has said Sasso, 41, is like a brother to him. The unassuming Sasso is like the outgoing, slightly mischievous kid who takes the edge off his stern, driven older brother. Where Dukakis is stiff and awkward in dealing with people, Sasso is a natural; he puts people at ease. He is Dukakis' emissary to the outside world. For years, politicians, bureaucrats and constituents have all said the same thing, "I can't talk to Dukakis. Let me talk to Sasso."
Blocky and blunt, Sasso is neither intellectual nor especially articulate. He is a coalition builder who knows when and how to compromise. Unlike Dukakis, he reaches out to people, and people respond. He engenders loyalty and returns it. The civic-minded Dukakis sometimes gives the impression that he considers himself too good for politics. "What Sasso brought to Dukakis," says Paul Pezzella, the campaign's Florida director, "was the conviction that good government and good politics are one and the same."
The son of a research engineer, Sasso was raised in East Paterson, N.J. He was an average student and went on to study government at Boston University. After graduating in 1970, he worked first for a real estate firm, then for a construction company. But Sasso was restless. In 1974 he became a volunteer for Gerry Studds' Massachusetts congressional campaign. After Studds won, Sasso became his district manager in New Bedford, where he proved adept at selling a Yale-educated liberal to blue-collar constituents.
In 1978 Governor Dukakis was seeking renomination, and Sasso was supervising a statewide amendment against raising the tax rates of residential properties. Sasso won, Dukakis lost. They met shortly afterward. Sasso was impressed, and they stayed in touch. In 1980 Sasso helped organize Ted Kennedy's challenge against Jimmy Carter and was an effective Kennedy field director in Iowa and New Jersey. Sasso then signed on for Dukakis' 1982 comeback attempt, helping create Mike II, the newly mellowed conciliator. Notes Alan Baron, a longtime Democratic strategist: "Sasso can deal with people who really dislike Dukakis." Sasso became the Governor's chief secretary, taking time off in 1984 to manage Geraldine Ferraro's ill-starred vice-presidential campaign. In Boston he used his rapport with local officials and his ability to muster a consensus to push Dukakis' legislative agenda.