I support the eventual normalization [of relations with Cuba]. And it's absolutely true that I think our policy has been a failure. I mean, the fact is, is that during my entire lifetime, and Senator Clinton's entire lifetime, you essentially have seen a Cuba that has been isolated, but has not made progress when it comes to the issues of political rights and personal freedoms that are so important to the people of Cuba.
So I think that we have to shift policy. I think our goal has to be ultimately normalization. But that's going to happen in steps. And the first step, as I said, is changing our rules with respect to remittances and with respect to travel.
And then I think it is important for us to have the direct contact, not just in Cuba, but I think this principle applies generally. I recall what John F. Kennedy once said, that we should never negotiate out of fear, but we should never fear to negotiate. And this moment, this opportunity when Fidel Castro has finally stepped down, I think, is one that we should try to take advantage of.
You can't have it both ways, Barack... The "miserable failure" of policy that you see in Cuban isolation was Kennedy's policy. We all know that you enjoy a significant rhetorical advantage over your opponent, but you are walking a dangerous course here. You're lionizing (beatifying at times during this campaign) the same man you lambasted for a diplomatic catastrophe only seconds earlier on the same subject.
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