good question. i searched around and found that quote was attributed to kerry on several sites but i have not found a direct source siting the moment he said it. it could be that people are paraphrasing his comments. in any case “I was for the war before I was against the war” has become kerry’s legacy.
Misquoting is not something we should tolerate... yes we can say the quote captures the gist of Kerry’s legacy but when you put quote marks around something is has to mean something. People who like to pat themselves on the back over their principles shouldn’t just let this slide. That was my point in questioning the opening quote.