Former Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) will play the role of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to help President Barack Obama prepare for his forthcoming presidential debates this autumn.
Beyond representing the same state of Massachusetts, Reuters notes that Mr. Romney and Mr. Kerry share other similarities that explain the Obama campaign’s decision to tap Mr. Kerry. Both Romney and Kerry are tall (6’2″ and 6’4″ respectively). They are also among the nation’s wealthiest Americans, with Mr. Romney worth an estimated $250 million and Mr. Kerry an estimated $230 million (due to the wealth of his ketchup-heiress wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry).
Obama chief strategist David Axelrod told the Washington Post that choosing Mr. Kerry as a stand-in for Mr. Romney during debate prep was an easy choice:
“There is no one that has more experience or understanding of thepresidential debate process than John Kerry,” said David Axelrod,Obama’s chief strategist. “He’s an expert debater who has a fundamentalmastery of a wide range of issues, including Mitt Romney’sMassachusetts. He’s the obvious choice.”
Mr. Kerry, who was a top debater at Yale University, also helped found a debate society at St. Paul’s School.
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