John Kerry at the DNC 2012

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One of the speakers that was amusing to hear during the 2012 Democratic National Convention was Senator John Kerry's speech because he made statements that approached satirical proportions. One of the reasons why the failed, presidential candidate's speech is ironic is because he criticizes the current Presidential challenger, Mitt Romney, when in fact Kerry had just as much political baggage as a candidate for President. What's most interesting about reading the transcript of the speech is that the speech is just about foreign policy. The senator starts off his speech as:

We’ve all learned Mitt Romney doesn’t know much about foreign policy. But he has all these Neo-Con advisers who know all the wrong things about foreign policy. He would rely on them. After all he’s the great out-sourcer. But I say to you this is not the time to outsource the job of commander in chief.

Within his criticism of Romney, the Senator is attacking Romney's time at Bain Capital without explicitly naming the private equity firm. Even his fellow Republicans made the same criticism during the primaries, but what's important about Kerry's statement is that it is, indeed, true that Romney's foreign staff resembles George W. Bush's foreign policy staff. What's more chilling is that the Massachusetts Senator points out that Romney will outsource the presidency. By outsourcing the Presidency Kerry is perhaps alluding to how Romney will give Netanyahu a blank check to invade Iran. Curiously enough, the speech's trancript reads differently than it sounds because when he delivered the speech Kerry sounded as if he were mocking Romney on foreign policy.

If anything can be taken from the 2004 General Election is that foreign policy arguments that Republicans used against Kerry are being turned and used against Republicans. Indeed, Senator Kerry keeps berating Governor Romney to the point where the audience might actually believe that the Senator is politically pristine. What is hysterical about the Senator is that he is famously known for saying, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." The context for Kerry's quote was funding for the war on Iraq, so it's hysterical when Kerry alludes to Romney's flip-flopping because the Senator also flip-flopped during his bid for Presidency. Kerry's block of text on Romney flip-flopping:

You know it isn’t -- it isn’t fair. It isn’t fair to say that Mitt Romney doesn’t have a position on Afghanistan. He has every position.

He -- he was against -- he was against setting a date for withdrawal. Then he said it was right. And then he left the impression that maybe it was wrong to leave this soon. He said it was tragic to leave Iraq. And then he said it was fine. He said we should have intervened in Libya sooner. Then he ran down a hallway to run away from the reporters who were asking questions. Then he said, the intervention was too aggressive. And then he said the world was a better place because the intervention succeeded. Talk about being for it, before you were against it.

Mr. Romney -- Mr. Romney -- Mr. Romney, here’s a little advice; before you debate Barack Obama on foreign policy, you’d better finish the debate with yourself.

Clearly, Kerry is lampooning Romney because not only is the Senator saying Romney has no stance on foreign policy, but he's also saying Romney has all stances on foreign policy. The Massachusetts Senator isn't doing Romney any favors because Kerry is pointing out Romney's inconsistencies, thus, hearing Kerry's speech makes Romney sound like an enigma on foreign policy. Not only will a voter think Romney is an enigma on foreign policy, but also voters will not be able to identify Romney's stance on foreign policy because, according to Kerry, Romney is flip-flopping on the matter. What's most problematic from hearing the Senator is that Kerry is implying that Romney changes his view in retrospect; for example, if a decision sounds bad, but the decision turns out to be a good decision then Kerry is pounding Romney for his lack of foresight.

Oddly enough, the Massachusetts Senator is alluding to various mishaps over the last two years, for instance, when Governor Romney announced his campaign for President of the United States he stated that announcing a withdrawal date from Afghanistan was wrong. In addition, Romney also did say it was tragic to leave Iraq, but the Senator doesn't keep the context in which Romney made the statement; for instance, Kerry failed to say that Romney was saying that troop reduction en masse is tragic, not the fact that the U.S. is wrapping up a war. The Senator's claim that Romney fled from reporters is comical and from reading or listening to the speech Kerry probably based his entire speech off one source.

Needless to state, Kerry does point out instances where Romney made a gaffe on foreign policy, but the speech's intent was to show what a Romney/Ryan ticket would bring to U.S. Policy. Yet, what's impressive about what the Senator is doing in the speech is that Kerry is extrapolating what Romney will do as President given his past actions and words--which isn't clear because the flip-flop argument makes Romney seem indecisive and lacking conviction. In short, the Massachusetts Senator is saying that no one knows what foreign policy Mitt Romney will take. Romney also faces the problem, according to Kerry, that his foreign policy is not the consensus that Republicans have on President Obama's foreign policy. In fact, the Senator's thought on the matter is:

But -- but -- but a Romney/Ryan foreign policy would be anything but funny. Every president of both parties for 60 years has worked for nuclear arms control, but not Mitt Romney. Republican secretaries of state from Kissinger to Baker, Powell to Rice, President Bush, 71 United States Senators all supported President Obama’s new START treaty, but not Mitt Romney. He’s even blurted out the preposterous notion that Russia is our number one political/geopolitical foe.

Folks, Sara Palin said she could see Russia from Alaska. Mitt -- Mitt Romney talks like he’s only seen Russia by watching Rocky IV.

What the former Presidential candidate says is true because Romney did state that Russia is the number one U.S. political foe. Kerry is correct in saying that Republican figures were inline with the New Strategic Arms Treaty (START). Although, in both cases the Senator is misleading because Romney considers a Nuclear armed Iran or North Korea more dangerous than Russia. Finally, the most memorable moment in the speech was when the Senator juxtaposed both Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney together because Kerry was trying to portray Romney as a clone of Palin, in the sense that both Romney and Palin make incredible statements--where one flaunts Russia as Geopolitical foe and where the other can see Russia from Alaska, respectively.

By hearing the speech Romney is surrounding himself with Neo-Con advisers to balance his deficiency in foreign policy, though, Senator Kerry disagrees with that political decision because it brings back policies from the George W. Bush's administration.  What is also clear from how the Senator compares Romney to Palin is his skeptism about how Romney will exercise the country's inherent rights to protect its citizens. As far the quality of the speech, Politico claims that Kerry's speech at the DNC is the best he's given in his entire career and that may be true given how much wit he displays. To conclude, there are fears that Romney's campaign is starting to look like Kerry's failed 2004 bid for President and that is why Kerry is relevant to the 2012 Presidential election; Kerry is not who you want to be running against Barack Obama.