John Kerry (Photo: Getty)

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, who served as a stand-in for Mitt Romney during President Barack Obama's debate prep sessions, stopped by the media filing room to talk with reporters ahead of tonight's clash between the two candidates. Mr. Kerry wouldn't discuss his strategies for impersonating Mr. Romney, but he gave his thoughts on the former Massachusetts governor's record in the Bay State and another important New England issue--the Boston Red Sox's horrendous 2012 season. 

Mr. Kerry said he thinks President Obama is "very excited aout talking about his vision for the next four years" tonight. For his part, he wanted to talk about Mr. Romney's record as Governor of Massachusetts.

"Mitt Romney has spent a lot of time trying to pretend that he had a great record in the state of Massachusetts," said Mr. Kerry. "Let me just tell you, I spent months now studying Mitt Romney's record. I know everything about it, more than I ever imagined or might have wanted to. And I will tell you that the numbers don't add up, the record is not real. This is the--it's one of the great charades of all time in my judgement."

The senator went on to cite several things he said occurred during Mr. Romney's tenure including; a loss of manufacturing jobs, a "billion dollar deficit" and fees levied "on the middle class."

"You just run down the list of what he did in Massachusetts and I'll tell you, the most telling thing of all, he's not even contesting the state that he governed. He's 25 points behind in his own state," Mr. Kerry said of Mr. Romney. "I'll tell you why, because the people of Massachusetts know him. They know what happened and they don't want any more of it....I can't think of a time when a governor's run for president and his own state didn't support him. Well, Massachusetts is not there for Mitt Romney because they know what happened."

Since Mr. Kerry was discussing Massachusetts, Politicker asked whether he was glad Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine was fired immediately after the team's awful season which saw them fall to last place in the AL East.

"I'm glad to see the season ended that's for sure," Mr. Kerry said.

A short while later, Mr. Kerry took to Twitter to say how he might have answered the question if he was still impersonating Mr. Romney.

"Reporter asked me if I'm glad Bobby V gone, if in-character, as Mitt mighta said, I love firing people," Mr. Kerry wrote.

Senator John Kerry (Photo: Getty)

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, said he believes there "absolutely" should be a parade for the troops who have returned from Iraq in New York or Washington, D.C. Though there have been calls for a ticker tape parade honoring Iraq veterans in Manhattan, Mayor Bloomberg has said Pentagon officials don't want New York City to hold a parade now because they think it would be "premature while we still have so many troops in harm's way around the world." The Politicker asked Mr. Kerry his thoughts on whether there should be an Iraq War parade in Manhattan after his appearance at New York Law School yesterday.

"Absolutely, I think there ought to be a parade if not there, in Washington," Senator Kerry said. "I think Iraqi war veterans, all veterans, I think they deserve to have the nation's gratitude and I think it'd be wonderful to do something like that."

Over the years, New York City has held ticker tape parades for veterans of the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the first Gulf War.

The Iraq War may be over, but there is increasing concern we may be headed toward a new war in Iran. At a fundraiser in Manhattan Thursday night, President Barack Obama was heckled by a woman who shouted "No war with Iran!"

"Nobody has announced a war, young lady," President Obama said. "You're jumping the gun a little bit there."

We asked Senator Kerry, who's a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, if he thinks a war with Iran is likely.

"I don't want to talk likelihoods of war right now," Senator Kerry said. "What I want to talk about is my hope that the Iranians will see the opportunity to negotiate."

John Kerry (Photo: Getty)

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry appeared at the New York Law School this afternoon as part of the Sidney Shainwald Public Interest Lecture Series and he delivered a speech "about where we find ourselves at this moment in our country." Mr. Kerry began by apologizing for Congress' dismal approval rating.

"I come to you with huge humility. I understand that we are at eight percent in the United States Congress and it is therefore miraculous that you would invite a sitting, elected member of the United States Senate to come talk to you," Mr. Kerry said. "I don't come here to be partisan, but I'm going to tell you facts."

Despite his promise to be non-partisan, the Democratic senator proceeded to slam Republicans for "ideological extremism" in Congress, the failure of the debt reduction supercommittee and a presidential primary he described as a "traveling reality gong show television show."

Mr. Kerry started his critique of the GOP by referencing the resignation of moderate Maine Republican Olympia Snowe, who announced her departure from the Senate this week due to her frustration with the lack of bipartisan compromise.

"Olympia Snowe, a terrific United States Senator was driven to the point of exhaustion with the process by a caucus and a process that demanded an orthodoxy of performance and belief that she simply was unwilling to kowtow to," Senator Kerry said. "So, we've lost another moderate."

Mr. Kerry went on to say he's "fearful for our country" because "we're mired in a moment" defined by "ideological extremism" and "our own fundamentalists."

"We spend a lot of time talking about other countries, particularly the Middle East and places where there's a lot of religious excessive demand," Mr. Kerry said. "But here in our own country, we have our own fundamentalists and we have our own excesses of demand today, and expectation with respect to toeing the line."

Because of this, Senator Kerry said the country must "think really carefully about where we're heading." He continued by citing "several exhibits" of how "we're standing in our own way" including the GOP primary and the supercommittee failure, which he blamed on failure to compromise on the part of Congressional Republicans.

"We're seeing a presidential race on the other side that is a traveling reality gong show television show, it's bizarre," Mr. Kerry said. "The leading candidate on their side has offered what for the economy of our country? A twenty percent tax cut."

Senator Kerry cited his experience as a member of the debt reduction supercommittee to explain why he doesn't believe tax cuts are the solution to the country's economic woes. He said "the three groups" that have tried to tackle the nation's debt--Simpson-Bowles Commission, the Domenici-Rivlin plan and the "bipartisan gang of six in the Senate" agree the government must come up with $2 trillion in additional revenues and mark $2 trillion in cuts. In spite of this need, Mr. Kerry said the Democrats on the supercommittee only initially sought $1.3 trillion in new tax revenue because they knew "the Republicans are in a tough place" because many of them signed Grover Norquist's pledge not to raise taxes. Senator Kerry said this offer was "rejected within hours."

"They wouldn't take $1.3 trillion, then we went down to 1 trillion. They wouldn't take $1 trillion, we went to 950, because they said, 'You've got to get that 'T word' out of there, if you get the 'T word' out of there, we might be able to do it,'" Mr. Kerry said. "Well, we took the 'T word' out of it. Well guess what? We got an 'N word,' 'No.' And so, we went to 650, 'No, too much revenue, our guys will never go for 650 in revenue.'"

When the deadline came for the supercommittee to reach an agreement, Senator Kerry said the Pennsylvania's Republican Senator, Pat Toomey, "offered up $350 billion in revenue." Mr. Kerry said he attempted to craft a compromise that would reach the minimum $1.2 trillion in budget reductions that was required to avoid the supercommittee's failure. He said this deal fell apart because the Republicans "wanted the Bush tax cuts to be made permanent" for even "the upper one percent" of Americans.

After dramatically narrating his version of the supercommittee failure, Senator Kerry summed up his remarks by blaming Republicans' desire to defeat the Democrats for governmental gridlock.

"Why are we stuck? Why is this the way it is? Why does Olympia Snowe leave? Why are we gridlocked?" he asked rhetorically. "Well, I'll tell you in very simple terms; certain people in the leadership of the United States Congress have made a decision that their primary objective is not fixing the economy, it is defeating this president. And they have decided to do everything possible to gridlock everything in order that we all look bad and then people throw everybody out and they'll come into power."

Mr. Kerry finished by making his opinion of this "obstructionist" approach painstakingly clear.

"It's the most depressingly small minded, venal unpatriotic thing I've ever seen in my life," he said.

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry (Photo: Getty)

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry spoke at the New York Law School today and The Politicker asked his thoughts on whether the former governor of his state, Mitt Romney, has moved to the right now that he's seeking the Republican nomination. Mr. Kerry said it's clear Mr. Romney has substantially changed his approach.

"Well," Senator Kerry said with a laugh, "It's like 180 degrees night and day difference. It's just a different Mitt Romney. It's Mitt Romney versus Mitt Romney."

Mr. Romney's Massachusetts health plan, commonly dubbed "Romneycare" by conservatives, has frequently been used as an example of his liberal past by those who say it served as the model for President Barack Obama's health care reform plan. Mr. Kerry said Mr. Romney's plan is "completely similar to the president's.

"In terms of the fundamental notion of universal coverage, mandatory coverage, a penalty if you don't have the coverage, they're completely similar in that respect."

Mr. Kerry is currently accompanied by a Republican, Scott Brown, in the Massachusetts Senate delegation. Mr. Brown is up for re-election this year and we asked Mr. Kerry whether he thinks Elizabeth Warren, Mr. Brown's Democratic opponent, will win. He was loathe to make a prediction about the race.

"I can't prognosticate. I mean, obviously, I want a Democrat and I'm supportive of a Dem, but the voters of Massachusetts are going to make up their minds," Mr. Kerry said. "I'm not going to get into likelihoods or not. I think she's a terrific candidate."