[img_assist|nid=73|title=Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John Kerry (D-Boston)|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=180|height=169]In a brief interview with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell, U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Boston) hailed Barack Obama's Berlin speech as "historic" and a sign that things have changed from when he ran for president in 2004.

Speaking shortly after the Illinois senator's speech concluded, Mitchell recalled how the campaign of President George W. Bush (R) attacked Kerry as being "too French" and asked whether he thinks Americans are past the "aversion to all things European" that hurt his presidential campaign.

"I think four years ago people were scared and the Bush administration exploited fear," he said.

Kerry expressed his belief that things have changed in that citizens are now wary of that brand of politics and are more concerned about issues like the economy and gas prices.

On the speech itself, Kerry said it was "not just historic but unbelievably exciting at the grassroots level" to see "an American leader" cheered on foreign soil after so many years of world opinion being against Bush's policies.

He said Obama told the Germans "not what they wanted to hear, but what they needed to hear" -- that America will return to leadership with the next president.