Sen. Kennedy Set To Endorse Obama
Two generations of Kennedys — Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and his son, Rep. Partrick Kennedy of Rhode Island — are endorsing fellow Democrat Barack Obama for president.
Obama's campaign said the senator planned to attend midday event at American University along with his niece, Caroline Kennedy, who announced her support for Obama over the weekend.
Robin Costello, a spokeswoman for Patrick Kennedy, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the senator and congressman probably will campaign around the country for Obama, although no concrete plans are set yet.
In a television interview Sunday, Obama would not answer questions about an endorsement from the elder Kennedy. "Any of the Democratic candidates would love to have Ted Kennedy's support. And we have certainly actively sought it," the Illinois senator said.
Edward Kennedy's endorsement was highly sought after by all the Democratic candidates. Besides his status as a liberal icon and member of the Kennedy dynasty, Kennedy boasts a broad national fundraising and political network as well.
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 rival Hillary Clinton, CBS senior political correspondent Jeff 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."
The Massachusetts senator reportedly decided to back Obama after becoming frustrated with how Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, campaigned in South Carolina. Critics accused them of injecting race into the debate, and Mr. Clinton compared Obama's landslide South Carolina victory Saturday to Jesse Jackson's victory in much smaller caucuses in the state in 1984 and 1988.
Today's expected 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."
Caroline Kennedy wrote in Saturday's New York Times that Obama could inspire Americans in the same way that her father, President John F. Kennedy, did.
Another of Sen. Kennedy's nieces, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, issued a statement Sunday in support of Clinton.
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."