WATERLOO - In 2004 Sen. John Kerry, Democratic nominee for president, invited Barak Obama to speak at his nomination. In a trip to Waterloo Wednesday, Kerry said he didn't expect to return the favor four years later as Obama, the party's 2008 nominee, accepted the honor in June

"Obviously I didn't think I would," Kerry said. "I thought I'd be elected, but I was happy to do it."

Obama was a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2004 as the Democrats took control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. However, Kerry was unable to win the White House.

The Massachusetts senator toured Iowa Wednesday to shore up Iowa support for Obama. Kerry spoke to a standing-room-only crowd a the Talk Shop, 1015 E. Fourth St., Wednesday morning and encouraged volunteers to keep up their efforts in the less than three weeks to the election.

Kerry added urgency to his message by pointing to Bush's victories in Iowa and Ohio.

"We know how close Iowa was the last time… we lost Iowa by a few thousand votes," he said. "We lost Ohio by 59,000 votes. You put more people in a football stadium than that on a Saturday."

Kerry secured the party nomination following his 2004 Iowa Caucus victory but was unable to carry the state in the general election. Obama won this year's caucus. Kerry said Obama needs to be quick to respond to any false accusations leveled from Republicans to be successful in the general election.

Kerry blamed Republican political strategist Karl Rove and a campaign calling into question his service record in Vietnam in part for his general election defeat. Kerry said Democrats are treating John McCain, Arizona Senator and Republican presidential hopeful, and his service in Vietnam with more respect.

"But that service doesn't entitle you to a world view that gets your country into trouble," Kerry said of McCain. "He has completely missed Pakistan and Afghanistan."

Kerry said those two countries should be the focus in the U.S.'s ongoing war on terrorism and that terror leader Osama bin Laden is still alive in Pakistan.

"He thinks the Iraq war is where the center is," Kerry said. "The only way to keep America safe is to fight where the war is, not where it isn't."

Kerry also criticized McCain's proposed health insurance tax break. Few Americans could afford spending $5,000 on health insurance to receive the proposed tax break, he said. The plan would push up to 30 million people off their current policies, Kerry added.

Kerry's next stop on his Iowa tour is Marshalltown. From there the he plans to visit Ames, Des Moines and Waukee.

"All of you did a remarkable job for me four years ago," Kerry told the crowd in Waterloo. "I know what it takes to win this thing."

Contact John Molseed at (319) 291-1418 or john.molseed@wcfcourier.com