Kerry calls Romney a flip-flopper

Kerry calls Romney a flip-flopper

Democratic Sen. John Kerry launched a broadside against fellow Massachusetts politician Mitt Romney on Sunday, calling him a flip-flopper.

"There are few people I've met in public life who have changed on as many issues as he has," Kerry said on NBC's "Meet the Press"

"Every major touchstone of American politics — from abortion to guns to war to God to gays, you name it," Kerry told host David Gregory. "People will make their own judgments about that."

Kerry, who was famously accused of flip-flopping during his 2004 presidential campaign by President George W. Bush, contrasted his flip-flop on the Iraq War with Romney's evolution on the issues.

"I did it as a matter of principle," Kerry said. "I'll defend that until the day I die. He's going to have to defend his positions throughout this race if he's the nominee."

Kerry slams Norquist pledge

Democratic Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry on Sunday slammed Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge, charging that Republicans weren't showing the same political courage in defying Norquist as veterans who have sacrificed for the United States.

"The other day, I went to Arlington Cemetery to visit the grave site of a college classmate of ours. ... I went with a bunch of my college buddies. As I was driving in there, and I went by that new flat area that's full of the graves of kids from Afghanistan and Iraq — some of whose funerals I've gone to over there — I've watched it grow," Kerry said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I asked myself as I was going through there — are we living up to the sacrifice — to the level of commitment that these guys made for us? Are we willing to put our political lives on the line for our country — do what we need to do because it's right?" Kerry said.

"And then I hear about this pledge — a pledge to a lobbyist that gets in the way of us living up to that sacrifice," Kerry went on. "The fact is, I took a pledge. My pledge is to the Constitution of the United States, to defend it."