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.
