John Kerry Doesn’t Think He’s Anything Like Mitt Romney

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts rejected the comparison that some in the press have made between him and current Republican candidate Mitt Romney: that they’re both aloof, cut from the same patrician Massachusetts cloth, unable to connect with working class voters.

At a lunch at New York Law School in New York City today where he’s giving a speech, Kerry told BuzzFeed that he totally rejects the premise.

“Well, I didn’t have trouble connecting with [voters],” he said. “I almost won the presidency. I just don’t agree with that. I completely reject that. It’s not even similar in any way remotely. I won more votes up until that vote that any Democrat ever won ,particularly against a president in wartime. But for 59,000 votes, I would have won the presidency.”

Kerry doesn’t think Romney will come as close in the general election as he did.

“I think Romney’s positions are out of touch with the needs of America,” he said. “The difficulty I had in my campaign came about in the primaries because of the war, and it took me time to break through and be able to explain the position I had. But nobody doubted I connected with voters in Iowa, connected with them in New Hampshire, which I won.”

Kerry added that “I’ve won five Senate races. I just don’t buy that.”

When asked by reporters about the difference between Romney as candidate and Romney as governor, Kerry said “It’s like 180 degrees, night and day difference. It’s a different Mitt Romney. It’s Mitt Romney versus Mitt Romney.”