World | USA
Ted Kennedy endorses Obama
Summoning memories of his brother the slain president, Senator Edward M. Kennedy led two generations of the First Family of Democratic politics in endorsing Barack Obama for the White House, declaring, "I feel change is in the air."
- AP
- Published: 23:39 January 29, 2008
Washington: Summoning memories of his brother the slain president, Senator Edward M. Kennedy led two generations of the First Family of Democratic politics in endorsing Barack Obama for the White House, declaring, "I feel change is in the air."
Obama is a man of rare "grit and grace", Kennedy said on Monday in remarks salted with scarcely veiled criticism of the Illinois senator's chief rival for the presidential nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as her husband, the former president.
Later on Monday, Obama and Kennedy prominently sat side-by-side during President George W. Bush's last State of the Union policy address to Congress.
Earlier in the day, Obama beamed as first Rhode Island Representative Patrick Kennedy, then Caroline Kennedy and finally the country's best known liberal took turns bestowing their praise.
Personal
"Today isn't just about politics for me. It's personal," Obama told a boisterous crowd packed into the American University basketball arena a few miles across town from the White House.
It was also about politics, though, and a rapidly approaching set of primaries and caucuses across more than 20 states on February 5, with more than 1,600 delegates to the party's national nominating convention at stake. Kennedy's endorsement was ardently sought by all three of the remaining Democratic presidential contenders, and he delivered it at a pivotal time in the race.
A liberal lion in his fifth decade in the Senate, the Massachusetts senator is in a position to help Obama court voting groups who so far have tilted Clinton's way. These include Hispanics, rank-and-file union workers and lower-income, older voters.
Kennedy is expected to campaign actively for Obama beginning later this week in Arizona, New Mexico and California. Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of president John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, will also make campaign appearances, officials said.
Universal healthcare
David Axelrod, a senior Obama adviser, said strategists also hope Kennedy can help blunt Clinton's charges that Obama's health plan would not provide coverage for all. "I don't think anybody believes that Ted Kennedy would endorse a candidate who wasn't thoroughly committed to the goal of universal health care," he said.
Clinton betrayed no disappointment at her rival's gain. "We're all proud of the people we have endorsing us," she said in a conference call with Arizona reporters.
Addressing Kennedy's criticism of politicians who pit groups against one another, she said she was "strongly in favour of getting to where our politics can be about the real issues, trying to find common ground."
So strong is the Kennedy family's hold on some Democrats that as word spread on Sunday about the elder Kennedy's plans, Clinton announced that she had the backing of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a daughter of Robert F. Kennedy.
More from USA
More from World
News Editor's choice
-
Allies quit ruling coalition in Nepal
Political row could trigger months of street protests and violence
-
Qatar blaze 'started at nursery'
Fire killed 19 including 13 children, at Doha’s main shopping centre
-
Jagan jailed over illegal assets
Andhra Pradesh leader accused of corruption, cheating, conspiracy
