Watch John Kerry's interview on The Situation Room.

(CNN)—Sen. John Kerry said fellow veteran John McCain’s military background doesn’t necessarily mean he would be a good commander in chief.

“John McCain can run around all that he wants right now talking about his military experience,” Kerry told CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux, “but he made the wrong judgment about Iraq, he has a foreign policy that has made us weaker.”

He added that the last eight years have been a failure in foreign policy, “and John McCain has supported it in its entirety.”

McCain himself has acknowledged his support of the war in Iraq could cost him the presidency.

Pointing to former President Ronal Reagan’s lack of military experience, Kerry explained presidents have overcome not having a military background by knowing who to ask questions of, and surrounding themselves with people who do share military experience.

Kerry, who endorsed Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential run earlier this year, said military experience has value, but judgment means more. “[Obama] has a very clear vision on how to make America stronger,” the Massachusetts senator said.

UPDATE: A Republican National Committee spokesman blasted Kerry's comments. “John Kerry has absolutely no credibility on Iraq. Kerry’s attacks on Iraq ring hollow considering his inability to offer a consistent much less coherent stance on the issue," said RNC spokesman Alex Conant in a written statement. "Kerry would be better off trying to explain why Barack Obama broke his promise and voted against troop funding for our men and women in uniform.”

–CNN's Emily Sherman

WASHINGTON (CNN) — This week, the spirited back-and-forth between the camps of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama led some in the Democratic Party to suggest that Clinton bow out of the race in order to unify Democrats against Sen. John McCain in the general election. The debate over whether it was time for Clinton to exit the race dominated the Sunday morning political talk show circuit.

CNN’s “Late Edition” featured a showdown between two Democratic strategists, Clinton supporter James Carville and Jamal Simmons, who backs Obama. Carville quickly downplayed any suggestion that Clinton drop out.

“The Clinton campaign has not had one one-second meeting about getting out of the race,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “Calling on her to get out of the race is…going to hurt him in terms of getting votes. And it is going to make it more difficult to reconcile the party.”

Simmons responded that it’s the negativity coming from the Clinton campaign that’s tearing the Democratic Party apart. He said that Democrats “feel like Senator Clinton is fighting Barack Obama like he's a Republican and not fighting him like he's a fellow Democrat.”

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Sens. Kerry and McCain share an unusual history together in presidential politics.

(CNN) — Stumping for Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. John Kerry faces a unique challenge when it comes to taking on the presumptive Republican nominee.

That's because Sen. John McCain has said that Kerry, in 2004, "asked if I would consider being his running mate." McCain told reporters earlier this month that at the time of the conversation, he made clear to Kerry the answer was no.

Kerry has said McCain's representatives contacted him about the possibility, and both men say there was never an actual offer.

McCain went on to campaign aggressively for President Bush in 2004.

Still, the complexity adds an unusual wrinkle for times like Sunday, when Kerry takes on McCain.

"Hillary Clinton has every right in the world to continue to fight, but the important thing is to be fighting against John McCain," Kerry told ABC's "This Week," discussing some calls for Sen. Clinton to drop out of the race.

"It is very important for both people to keep the eye on the real target — John McCain and the Republican disaster of the last seven and a half years," he added.

As the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, Kerry is one of Obama's most prominent campaign surrogates.

–CNN's Josh Levs

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton hit the road in Ohio, relying on campaign surrogates to stump for them on the Sunday morning talk-shows.

The television appearances come at a critical time for both candidates as next Tuesday's key primaries in Texas, Ohio, Vermont and Rhode Island loom on the horizon. On CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," Clinton supporter Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, explained why he is supporting the senator from New York.

"I'm supporting Hillary Clinton because I know she knows, understands and cares about issues that affect border communities like the one I represent."

Obama surrogate Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, also spoke to Blitzer, and defended his candidate's foreign policy experience.

"The fact is that Barack Obama comes to this race with more experience than George Bush, Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton had in foreign policy at the national level. And the fact is that he has proven that it's his judgment that is correct," Kerry said.

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Bill Clinton campaigned for Kerry in 2004 (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CNN) — John Kerry, the Democratic Party's 2004 nominee for president, took aim at Bill Clinton Friday, telling the National Journal the former president does "not have a license to abuse the truth."

The Massachusetts senator, who endorsed Barack Obama's White House bid earlier this month, said Clinton's criticisms of the Illinois senator have been "over the top," and suggested the former president is getting "frantic."

Targeting Clinton's recent spate of attacks on Obama, Kerry said, "I think you had an abuse of the truth, is what happened. …I mean, being an ex-president does not give you license to abuse the truth, and I think that over the last days it's been over the top.

"I think it's very unfortunate, but I think the voters can see through that," Kerry added. "When somebody's coming on strong and they are growing, people get a little frantic, and I think people have seen this sort of franticness in the air, if you will."

The former president has faced criticism for aggressively interjecting himself into the race between his wife and Obama of late. On Monday, Obama said he feels as if he is running against both Clintons, a charge the New York senator’s campaign said was borne out of frustration. The former president himself later dismissed Obama's comments, saying “I thought he was running against me.”

Campaigning in South Carolina Friday, Obama said the Clinton campaign has stepped up its attacks since his Iowa win, and joked that it's good practice for him, so "when I take on those Republicans I'll be accustomed to it."

Kerry formally endorsed Obama on January 10, saying then that Obama "isn't just going to break the mold….Together, we are going to shatter it into a million pieces."

The endorsement was seen as a blow to both John Edwards — Kerry's running mate in 2004 — and both Hillary and Bill Clinton, who had campaigned on behalf of Kerry's presidential bid.

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Kerry said Obama "can be, will be, and should be the next president of the United States.” (Photo Credit: AP)

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (CNN) — Sen. John Kerry endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, saying the senator from Illinois is a "candidate to bring change to our country."

"Barack Obama isn't just going to break the mold," said Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate four years ago. "Together, we are going to shatter it into a million pieces."

The senator from Massachusetts made the announcement in front of an enthusiastic crowd in Charleston, South Carolina, 16 days ahead of the state's Democratic primary.

Kerry said he was stirred by the way Obama "eloquently reminded us of the fact that our true genius is faith in simple dreams and insistence on small miracles."

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Kerry will endorse Obama.

(CNN) – Former 2004 presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry will endorse Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, two sources told CNN Thursday.

The announcement will come at 2 p.m. in Charleston, S.C., the sources said.

"(Kerry) remains one of the most popular figures in the Democratic Party and (has) an e-mail list with millions of addresses," an Obama source said.

Kerry ran in 2004 on the Democratic ticket with former Sen. John Edwards, who is running this year for party's presidential nomination.

Edwards reacted Thursday to his former running mate's decision in a brief statement that hinted at the split between the two men following the last presidential election. “Our country and our party are stronger because of John’s service, and I respect his decision. When we were running against each other and on the same ticket, John and I agreed on many issues," he said in a statement.

"I continue to believe that this election is about the future, not the past, and that the country needs a President who will fight aggressively to end the status quo and change the Washington system and to give voice to all of those whose voices are ignored in the corridors of power.”

Elizabeth Edwards said her husband John didn't want to concede the 2004 election.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, criticized Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, Thursday over his decision to concede the 2004 election to President Bush so quickly after election night.

Mrs. Edwards, whose husband was the vice presidential nominee in 2004, said in an interview with Air America's Richard Greene she was "very disappointed" then-Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry chose not to contend the election result in the crucial swing state of Ohio — where he lost by approximately 120,000 votes.

"I was very disappointed, not just because we did not count the votes, but because we promised people that if they stood in line and fought for the right to vote, that we would fight with them," Mrs. Edwards said. "And I was very disappointed that the decision was made by the campaign, over John’s objection, not to fight."

Mrs. Edwards added that reported voting irregularities in Ohio caused "a lot to be suspicious about" and said the real winners of the 2004 election would likely never be known.

"I don't think we're going to ever know [who won] and that's a shame," she said. "Certainly there's a lot to be suspicious about."

"We're never going to have the kind of certainty we need to have," Mrs. Edwards continued. "I don't care if I find out the evening in the first Tuesday of November. If I don't find out until Friday who the president is but I am pretty sure it’s the right answer, that's fine with me."

Conceding the election in Boston the day after polls closed, Kerry said, "The outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process. I would not give up this fight if there was a chance that we would prevail, but it is now clear that even when all the provisional ballots are counted, which they will be, there won't be enough outstanding votes for us to be able to win Ohio."

– CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Biden said Al Gore and John Kerry failed to communicate their national security credentials.

ROCK HILL, South Carolina (CNN) — Sen. Joe Biden, touting his experience on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during a campaign stop here, said that former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John Kerry lost the 2000 and 2004 elections because they failed to convince voters they had the experience to protect Americans.

"Why did we lose?," Biden asked a crowd of about 50 people at the office of the York County Democratic Party. "We had good, decent, honorable men running [in 2000 and 2004]. But anybody who thinks we're going to elect a president who cannot lay down unimpeachable credentials on national security, who cannot demonstrate by his or her record or character that they have the strength and vision to protect America as well as ending this war, I think we're making a mistake again."

Biden said that most Americans agree with Democrats on domestic issues, but that President Bush did a better job in 2004 of winning over voters on national security issues.

"What he [Bush] was able to communicate wrongly, and what my candidate and your candidate [Kerry] was unable to communicate unjustly, was that he would keep America safe," Biden said.

He told the crowd he would trounce the Republican nominee in a national security debate.

"I can hardly wait to debate Rudy Giuliani," he said to cheers. "I can hardly wait to debate Mitt Romney or whomever they choose on matters relating to national security and homeland security."

Biden, still in single digits in national polls, also took a thinly veiled swipe at Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, suggesting that he is the only Democrat who can appeal to voters in red states. He said a viable Democratic candidate must be able to win in states that went red in 2000 and 2004, particularly in the South.

"I truly believe, and I predict to you, electability is going to become a major, major, major factor at the end of the day when South Carolinians and Iowans and folks in New Hampshire go to those polls or caucuses to cast their vote."

– CNN South Carolina Producer Peter Hamby

Watch the commotion following a student's question to Sen. Kerry Monday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – A University of Florida student was Tasered and arrested by University police at a John Kerry speech following a heated question on the 2004 election results.

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Will an endorsement from a firefighters union help Chris Dodd like it helped John Kerry?

IOWA CITY, Iowa (CNN) — Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd called Thursday one of the best days he's had on the trail so far. Of course, for a man who's polling as low as he is, "best" is relative.

The senator from Connecticut stood on stage for what could eventually prove to be a helpful photo op. Holding his hand under the lights was the man often credited with lifting John Kerry's 2004 presidential bid to a new level. That man is Harold Schaitberger.

Schaitberger is the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, a union representing 281,000 full-time professional fire fighters.

Wednesday he announced the IAFF is throwing all of its support behind long-shot candidate Chris Dodd.

"I have committed myself to this campaign…until we get to the White House," Schaitberger said.

"One of the things I admire about fire fighters," Dodd said, "[is] they don't sit around and just say 'who's winning?' They ask themselves 'who should win?'"

And according to today's polls, Dodd certainly isn't winning. But even though he argued that "poll numbers in August mean nothing," you can't ignore the fact that he's consistently coming in at around 1 percent.

Now the question is, could this endorsement change anything?

Let's rewind four years. Sen. John Kerry, then seen as a long-shot for the Democratic presidential nominee, was given this very same endorsement.

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Kerry is calling for the Falcons to suspend Michael Vick.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, strongly urged National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell to immediately suspend Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who was recently indicted for his alleged participation in dogfighting.

"As we have read in the Vick indictment, poor-performing dogs are tortured, maimed and killed. This illegal and despicable activity has no place in a civilized society," Kerry, a former Democratic presidential nominee, said in a letter to the commissioner.

He added, "On behalf of millions of sports fans and dog lovers, I urge you to treat Mr. Vick’s dogfighting indictment with the very serious attention it deserves and suspend him from the League until the resolution of legal proceedings."

Kerry said he will introduce legislation aiming to eliminate dogfighting by making it illegal to send pictures or run web sites related to the sport and to own or train dogs for the purpose of dogfighting.

–CNN Associate Producer Lauren Kornreich