There is no room in the American credo for losers. This is a country of hard-working achievers, the logic goes. So, if you lose in anything, it must be because of a deficiency in your character or a lack of dedication.

This formula is especially true in politics.

What is Walter Mondale doing these days? Does anyone care? How about Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford?

While each of these candidates, like Dukakis, have been perceived widely as laughing-stocks after their defeats, they, unlike the Duke, were able to disappear quickly from the public spotlight after going down.

However, Dukakis had to remain a public figure after his crushing election defeat. There was no cooling off period. Smelling blood, the vultures have repeatedly swooped in on Dukakis who could not run anywhere for cover.

I'M sure the Duke is now counting down the days until he can escape the State House. He'll probably go on to lead a quiet life as an attorney or maybe as a professor.

Of course, the Duke could rise from the ashes and make another run at the White House. Stranger things have happened.

Everyone had written off Richard Nixon after he was edged by John Kennedy in the 1960 presidential race. Tricky Dick was in an even more embarrassing position than the Duke since two years after his defeat he was bested by Pat Brown in the California governor's race.

After laying low for a few years in New York, Nixon went on to be elected to the presidency not once, but twice. And, well, the rest is history.

It remains to be seen whether Mike Dukakis can stage such a dramatic comeback. But whatever his fate, the Duke deserves better treatment than he has been getting lately.

He should be viewed simply as some one whose luck has run out, not as a self-made pariah.