The five-minute Michael Dukakis speech for capturing the hearts and minds of voters has been told to the former governor’s students at Northeastern University, to a sitting senator and the current governor, and to at least one candidate in next week’s primary election.

But really, those five minutes can be boiled down to two words: personal contact.

“It works,” Dukakis said recently, seated in his Brookline living room surrounded by family photos and artwork from across the globe. On the couch nearby was his protégé and former student Mike Lake, who is running for lieutenant governor against Steve Kerrigan and Leland Cheung in the Democratic primary.

Boston Globe