U.S. Sen. John Kerry said Sunday that Republican presidential nominee John McCain would continue the same policies implemented by Republican President George W. Bush.

Kerry, a frequent surrogate for Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, appeared on NBC's Meet the Press in the show's final episode before the election on Tuesday.

"John McCain does not represent a break with George Bush," the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee said. "I mean, yesterday he was endorsed by Dick Cheney. He earned that endorsement by supporting this administration 90 percent of the time."

Kerry, a Boston Democrat, also criticized McCain for running a negative campaign. "This has been one of the most divisive campaigns in history," he said. "John McCain [said] he wanted this campaign to be about big ideas and he wanted it to respect the American people's desire not to be negative. It's been the most negative--100 percent of his advertising is negative."

Meet the Press host Tom Brokaw began the interview by referencing a conversation he had with Kerry at this point in 2004 in which Kerry said that no incumbent president "below the 50 percent threshold" had ever been re-elected. Osama Bin Laden released a videotape two days later, Brokaw recalled, which many believed influenced the election. Brokaw asked Kerry what the Obama campaign can learn from those events.

"The Obama campaign is practicing a cautionary lesson by working, working, working," Kerry replied. "I mean, the bottom line is you take nothing for granted. And I know that the candidate, every member of the campaign, and all of his supporters are taking nothing for granted."

Kerry also noted that presidential races tend to tighten near Election Day, which would mean that Republican presidential nominee John McCain would gain this year on Obama in the closing days.

Kerry responded to the McCain's camps charges that Obama will raise taxes. "It is absolutely a certainty that 95 percent of all American families are going to get a tax cut of at least $1,000," the senator said. "And if we can pass health care, they'll lower the premiums at $2,500."

Kerry charged that former U.S. senator and 2008 presidential contender Fred Thompson, who appeared on the show before him, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who stumped for McCain in Ohio this week, are trying to use scare tactics on the issue of taxes instead of offering a positive vision for the future of U.S. fiscal policy.

"They're both trying to scare people," Kerry said. "They're trying to use the time-honored tradition of the Republican Party in the last eight years to scare people."

Kerry sharply criticized McCain for his handling of two important decisions in the race. First, that McCain chose an inexperienced running mate in Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. McCain, the Democrat said, "chose somebody who has zero national security experience, who by definition is not ready to be ready to be president immediately."

Second, McCain didn't grasp the significance of the financial crisis.

"On 15 September, John McCain said the fundamentals of our economy are sound," Kerry said. "That was his judgment. Three days later, he suspends his campaign and says it's the greatest economic crisis since World War II. He lurches erratically from one place to another. He doesn't offer any constructive suggestion as to what you do about it."

Obama offered "calm and steady" leadership in handling both those situations, Kerry said, while McCain was "has been sort of erratic and, frankly, impulsive."

Kerry did acknowledge his respect for McCain, and Brokaw pointed out that Kerry had approached the Arizona senator about being his running mate in 2004. As he often has this year, Kerry said that was a different McCain.

"That was a John McCain, incidentally, who had voted against George Bush's tax cuts, calling them immoral and unaffordable," Kerry said. "He had eloquently been the most powerful spokesperson against torture because he, himself, had experienced it.  And he's changed on all those things."

Kerry responded to questions about whether one party government could be bad for the country. Kerry said that he hopes the Democrats, following Obama's leadership, are able to build a super-majority in the Senate that crosses party lines.

"We don't need to pass things by 51 votes or 60 votes," Kerry said. "We need to build 85-vote majorities. And I am confident, everything about Barack Obama's campaign has been inclusivity, has been reaching across the aisle."

The Democrat also addressed Obama's opting out of the public financing system, noting that he felt constrained by the $84 million made available to him in 2004. "I speak as somebody from experience because I was forced to pull out of three states--Colorado, Missouri and Virginia--three weeks before the election because the public financing system didn't give you enough money to compete," Kerry said.

Check out the full Meet the Press transcript here.