Kennedy Lauds Obama As Worthy Heir To JFK

Sought-After Endorsement Could Help Democratic Hopeful Among Working Class, Hispanics

(CBS/AP)  Two generations of Kennedys - the Democratic Party's best-known political family - endorsed Barack Obama for president on Monday, with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy calling him a "man with extraordinary gifts of leadership and character," a worthy heir to his assassinated brother.

"It was a moment packed with political significance," said CBS senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield. "Ted and Caroline Kennedy — the surviving brother and surviving child of the most revered Democratic President — declaring that the torch has been passed."

"I feel change in the air," Kennedy said in a speech salted with scarcely veiled criticism of Obama's chief rival for the nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, as well as her husband, the former president.

"I have marveled at his grit and grace," he said of the man a full generation younger than he is.

Kennedy's endorsement was ardently sought by all three of the remaining 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 Hispanic voters as well as rank-and-file members of labor unions, two key elements of the Democratic Party.

He is expected to campaign actively for Obama in the days before a string of delegate-rich primaries and caucuses across 24 states on Feb. 5, beginning later this week in Arizona, New Mexico and California.

The senator made his comments at a crowded campaign rally that took on the appearances of a Kennedy family embrace of Obama, who sat smiling as he heard their praise.

He was introduced by Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president, who said Obama "offers that same sense of hope and inspiration" as did her father. Rep. Patrick Kennedy also endorsed Obama from the stage before a boisterous crowd at American University.

"This is more than just politics for me. It is personal," Obama, 46, said when it came time for him to speak. He said he was too young to remember President John F. Kennedy, but that "my own sense of what is possible in this country" stems from what his parents told him of the Kennedys.

In his own remarks, Sen. Kennedy sought one by one to rebut many of the arguments leveled by Obama's critics.

"From the beginning, he opposed the war in Iraq. And let no one deny that truth," he said, an obvious reference to former President Clinton's statement that Obama's early anti-war stance was a "fairy tale."

"With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion.

"With Barack Obama we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay," Kennedy said.

The Massachusetts senator had remained on the sideline of the presidential campaign for months, saying he was friends with Obama, Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, as well as several Senate colleagues who are no longer in the race.

Lately, according to several associates, Kennedy became angered with what he viewed as racially divisive comments by Bill Clinton. Nearly two weeks ago, he played a personal role in arranging a brief truce between the Clintons and Obama on the issue.

Questioned about Kennedy's endorsement, Hillary Clinton said simply, "We're all proud of the people we have endorsing us."

She also defended herself and her husband against criticism that they had engaged in racial politics and distortion of a rival's record.

"There's been no two people who have stood against that more than we have over many years," she said in a conference call with Arizona reporters.

Kennedy refers only sparingly to his assassinated brothers, John and Robert, in his public remarks, and his endorsement of Obama was cast in terms that aides said was unusually personal.

"There was another time, when another young candidate was running for president and challenging America to cross a new frontier. He faced criticism from the preceding Democratic president, who was widely respected in the party," Kennedy said, referring to Harry S. Truman.

"And John Kennedy replied, 'The world is changing. The old ways will not do. ... It is time for a new generation of leadership.

"So it is with Barack Obama," he added.

Kennedy began his remarks by paying tribute to Sen. Clinton's advocacy for issues such as health care and women's rights. "Whoever is our nominee will have my enthusiastic support," he said.

But he quickly pivoted to a strong endorsement of Obama, whom he said "has extraordinary gifts of leadership and character, matched to the extraordinary demands of this moment in history."

"I believe that a wave of change is moving across America," Kennedy said.

The endorsement may run counter to Obama's image as a change agent, but is also likely to help him among groups that, so far, have been loyal to Clinton, Greenfield said on CBS' The Early Show on Monday.

"The question is, Obama is this transformational guy who's saying 'I can move beyond the old left and right'. Well, Ted Kennedy for many people, pro and con, is the symbol of classic American liberalism. He's been in the Senate since Barack Obama was 15 months old," Greenfield said. "That said, among working class Democrats, among Hispanics, among African Americans, Ted Kennedy is a home run."

Today's endorsement represents a break between the Clintons and the Kennedys, two of the Democratic Party's most powerful families, presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said on The Early Show.

"What makes this, I think, a little bit more of a news story is Ted Kennedy squaring off with Bill Clinton saying, 'I don't like how you dealt with the race issue in South Carolina,'" Brinkley said. "When he was president, remember the Clinton's didn't have a home and they used to spend their summers up in Martha's Vineyard, and Hyannis Port, kind of infiltrating the Kennedy compounds, if you like. All that's over now. It's not just an endorsement by Ted Kennedy. He's getting on the campaign trail; he's going to be trying to bring labor unions, and particularly Hispanics, to Barack Obama."

Also Monday, Obama picked up the endorsement of author Toni Morrison, who once labeled Bill Clinton as the "first black president." Morrison said she has has admired Obama rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for years because of her knowledge and mastery of politics, but cited Obama's "creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom."

Morrison said her endorsement had little to do with Obama's race - he is the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas - but rather his personal gifts.

Writing with the touch of a poet in a letter to the Illinois senator, Morrison explained why she chose Obama over Clinton for her first public presidential endorsement.

"In addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates," Morrison wrote. "That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it."

[terrorislam6]

did teddy chappaquiddick kennedy pick hussein because that is the hot chick???

[p-syrus]

Well now, JFK''s accomplishments in office were:

A. the Bay of Pigs Fiasco,

B. U.S. escalation of the Vietnam War,

C. close ties to organized crime (Mafia),

D. more marital infidelity than Bill Clinton, Dwight Eisenhower, or Warren Harding combined were capable of,

E. almost putting the u.s. into a nuclear war as a result of the failures of his cabinet (the closest we ever came).

Personally, I''d just as soon not have a repeat of that kind of "leadership" from JFK''s "worthy heir".

Charisma & inspiration may be political virtues but are not especially desirable qualities for a chief executive.

The may make an executive''s job easier but they offer little in the way of genuine leadership.

But then, Teddy never was the bright bulb in the pack.

[jonesforch]

Kennedy Lauds Obama As Worthy Heir To JFK

Money begets MONEY

[wardoglrs]

Immigration by the Numbers.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/151206Immigration.htm

HOW TO KEEP 100% OF YOUR EARNINGS.
http://famguardian.org/Media/movie.htm

[wardoglrs]

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2006/151206Immigration.htm

HOW TO KEEP 100% OF YOUR EARNINGS.
http://famguardian.org/Media/movie.htm

[elsylee28]

I''m undecided about who & which party I%u2019m voting for, but found this great article called "Black Voters and a Twist of Bias" on the BlogZine SAVAGE POLITICS.

http://savagepolitics.com

WOW- all I have to say!

In a way this article also explain the Democrat voter distribution in FL.

it is awesome!

[joeshields56]

Before you can move a group of people anywhere, you must first be able to passionately communicate the need to move. "We choose to go to the moon", "Mr. Gorbachoff, tear down that wall", "The only thing we have to fear.." "it''s the econonmy, stupid" Sometimes, planting the dream in people''s heads is all it takes... then sit back and watch the magic. Watch 401ks skyrocket again. Watch smart people invent new low emission vehicles. Watch how easily concensus can be reached on a health plan that meets our needs at affordable costs. It''s amazing what a true leader like Barack Obama can do. All we need to do is grab for that ring before it is too late. Some people are foolishly thinking they can have their Hillary now and their Obama later. Not so. No more than voters could have their Adlai Stevenson later, election after election. If you think Obama will be useful at some point but not now... think again. It is now, while the iron is hot that we must strike. Don''t be foolish. Don''t settle for bronze now and let gold slip through your fingers. We can''t afford bronze right now.

[campaign4]

The endorsement from the Kennedys is ridiculous (clearly politics).
The so called CHANGE we need is to bring back the prosperity we have during the Clinton years. We do not want another TRAINEE for the next 4 years as Presidetn Bush did in his first 4 years term in the office.

[badbrown126]

Do we really need more Clintons?

Lets put aside the *** and lies about *** and the disbarment from *** and *** *** ***.

How about:
Millions in illegal campaign contributions.
700 Republican FBI files.
Hillarys chief of staff taking files out of Vincent Fosters office.
A level of personal attachs that has never been equalled. Rove is a sissy. Hillary attacks!
Dozens of people that fled the country rather than testify against them.
John Huang sent me.
The Rose law firm records found in the oval office.
The Marc Rich Pardon. Just that is sleazy enough.
The nose like a vacuum cleaner.
1000 cattle future investment that became 100,000 in one year.
And my favorite ...
This list could go on for days.

The Clinton sleaze is not about ***. It is about them.

We need change for the better ... not the worst.

Obama 2008!

[erasmus6]

Posted by gunownerdan at 05:17 PM : Jan 29, 2008


Yes and we all found out in later years what an idiot he really was, didn''t we?