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The New York Times
U.S.
Sen. Kennedy Backs
Obama for President
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Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times
Barack Obama with Sen. Edward Kennedy at American
University in Washington, D.C. on Monday |
By AP from
nytimes.com on the Web, January 28, 2008
WASHINGTON -- 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.
''I feel change in the air,'' Kennedy said in remarks salted with scarcely
veiled criticism of Obama's chief rival for the nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham
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.
''Today isn't just about politics for me. It's personal,'' Obama, 46, said
when it came time for him to speak. ''I was too young to remember John
Kennedy and I was just a child when Robert Kennedy ran for president. But
in the stories I heard growing up, I saw how my grandparents and mother spoke
about them, and about that period in our nation's life -- as a time of great
hope and achievement.''
In his 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.
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.
Also Monday, Obama picked up the endorsement of author Toni Morrison, who read
from her work at Bill Clinton's first inauguration and once labeled him the
''first black president.'' Morrison said she has admired Hillary 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.
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