About goddamn time! About time that a super-surrogate spoke up! In an interview with the National Journal, Kerry is quoted as saying "Being an ex-President does not give you license to abuse the truth," "Things have been said about Barack Obama’s positions that are just plain untrue."
Hopefully more people with clout come out and set the record straight so that superficial voters take heed and understand the real differences b/w (and yes there are differences) the candidates.
Follow me....
Here are excerpts from the transcript of the interview:
Over here Kerry points out the inaccuracies leveled by the Clinton, and points out that Obama has red state appeal:
Q: So, senator, you have endorsed Barack Obama, and this week, of course, the campaign was absolutely consumed with these charges and counter-charges, and it seemed to many of us that Obama's message about hope and change was pretty much drowned out. What happened, here?
Kerry: Well, I think you had an abuse of the truth, is what happened. I mean, being an ex-president does not give you license to abuse the truth, and I think that over the last days it's been over the top. Things have been said about Barack Obama's positions that are just plain untrue. It was said in Nevada, it's been said about Social Security, it's been said about Yucca Mountain, and it's been said in South Carolina. I think it's very unfortunate, but I think the voters can see through that. When somebody's coming on strong and they are growing, people get a little frantic, and I think people have seen this sort of franticness in the air, if you will.
My sense is, Barack Obama offers a better opportunity to pull America together than any other candidate in the race. If you look at the fact that the governor of Arizona, a red state, Gov. Janet Napolitano, has endorsed Barack Obama, former governor and now senator, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, red state, has endorsed Barack Obama. The two senators from North Dakota and South Dakota, the Democratic senators, have endorsed Barack Obama. Claire McCaskill, the senator from Missouri, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia, was asked the question, "Can a Democrat carry Virginia?" And his answer was, "the right Democrat," and then he endorsed Barack Obama.
Kerry then pivots away from criticizing the Clinton's and instead draws focus to Obama's stimulus plan:
Q: Let's just go back to what you said right at the beginning. So you are saying, then, that former President [Bill] Clinton is the one who has been abusing the truth?
Kerry: I think there has been an overreach with respect to what Barack Obama has said and when he said it, and I think it's been unfortunate, but I don't think we ought to spend our time there. I think people want to focus on what are you doing to do to get my health care, what are you going to do to get my job?
I think that Barack Obama, for instance, has a stimulus plan that is important to the workers of South Carolina and to the rest of the country. Because, first of all, it's smart. It's not going to be a long-term budget increase, it's going to be a temporary one; it's targeted to the middle class; it's targeted to poor families who need the relief. But it also provides money to business investment -- business incentive in order to help create the jobs we need to move the Economy and he focuses also on the sub-prime housing crisis, which I personally believe is one of the single most important components of restoring confidence in the Economy.
Over here Kerry makes a case against the notion that Barack Obama is too inexperienced:
In fact, Barack Obama has more legislative experience than either of his two opponents. He served eight years in the Illinois legislature and now several in the United States Senate, in total, he has more legislative years. And if you look back in history, Abraham Lincoln had only two years in the United States Congress, and then he lost. He was sent back to Illinois in shame, ran for the United States Senate, lost his race for the Senate, then was nominated to be the leader of his party. And he became, arguably, our greatest president in history. So I think you have to look at the breadth of experience, and the type of experience.
You know, I look at Barack Obama: He's older than Bill Clinton was Bill Clinton became president. He's older than John Kennedy was, he's older than Teddy Roosevelt was and he has a broad experience and has proven his ability through his campaign to be able to lead and to pull people together. And again, I go back to what I just said -- look at the coalition he is building: Nebraska, Arizona, Virginia, Missouri, North and South Dakota. These are the states where we need to build that kind of new coalition, and I think he's attracting independents and Republicans and Democrats who are fed up with the way things have been. We gotta change.
Kerry then rails against the notion that Obama is now the "Black Candidate":
Q: Just a couple quick questions, because you made such interesting points here, senator. The consensus seems to be now though that, for whatever reason, Barack Obama is now identified as the "black candidate." How did that happen?
Kerry: Well, if it happened, I'm not sure that that is accurate at all, and I don't necessarily accept it. But to whatever degree that has been injected here, it has been injected, frankly, by the other campaign, and I think it's unfortunate, but I just don't accept that. And I think the people that are supporting him is evidence of that.
I don't look at Barack Obama and see a black candidate. I see an inspiring, young, American United States senator -- that's what I see -- who happens also to be African American. Just as Hillary happens also to be a woman, and just as John Edwards happens also to be a white. So what? What you look at-- I mean, this is the test of this race.
Are we the country we say we are? Are we the country that holds certain truths to be self-evident, words which incidentally were written by a 33-year-old named Thomas Jefferson. You know, are we the country that judges people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin -- words that were written by Martin Luther King when he was about 34 years old.
I am one of those people who believes that Barack Obama has to be put through the fire to earn the nomination. Some of the tactics being used against him by the Clinton's are tactics he can expect to face in the General from the Republicans, so he might as well be prepared before hand.
While nothing is fair and square in Presidential politics, we do expect a certain level of truthiness when it comes to arguments over statements, quotes, policy positions etc, of the candidates. I just hope that both the Clintons and Obama are able to rise back up to a level above the gutter politics that is been practiced right now.
Thank You Senator Kerry for speaking out!