The Kennedys Bestow Endorsements on Obama

The first major post South Carolina effect of the Clintons' race baiting has occurred, and is a doozy. Senator Ted Kennedy and his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, are going to endorse Barack Obama for President today.

To say this is huge is an understatement. If you look at today's Democratic Party, you have two main factions represented by the Kennedys and the Clintons. The Kennedys are considered to be the royalty of the party, while the Clintons are considered the nouveau riche. Because of the fact that Bill Clinton was the only Democratic President during the last generation and a half, and the fact that he was re-elected, the two have coexisted nicely since Hillary was elected to the Senate in 2000. But there had to be a little bit of tension under the surface all these years, as the Clintons tend to suck up all of the attention when they're in the picture.

That tension boiled over this past weekend, according to the New York Times: Kennedy Chooses Obama, Spurning Plea by Clintons. Senator Kennedy had warned the Clintons (Bill, in particular) not to fracture the party over race, and the Clintons rejected that warning. It's fascinating to note that Kennedy called Bill Clinton, and not Hillary, to inform the campaign of his endorsement.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Senator Edward M. Kennedy, rejecting entreaties from the Clintons and their supporters, is set to endorse Senator Barack Obama’s presidential bid on Monday as part of an effort to lend Kennedy charisma and connections before the 22-state Feb. 5 showdown for the Democratic nomination.

Both the Clintons and their allies had pressed Mr. Kennedy for weeks to remain neutral in the Democratic race, but Mr. Kennedy had become increasingly disenchanted with the tone of the Clinton campaign, aides said. He and former President Bill Clinton had a heated telephone exchange earlier this month over what Mr. Kennedy considered misleading statements by Mr. Clinton about Mr. Obama, as well as his injection of race into the campaign.

Mr. Kennedy called Mr. Clinton Sunday to tell him of his decision.

When Ted Kennedy gets in, he gets all the way in. He loves campaigning, and will be out on the stump arm in arm with Barack Obama from here on to at least the February 5th primaries. It's important to note that Kennedy was instrumental in introducing Bill Clinton to the Democratic Party old guard later on in the '92 campaign. Right now, Hillary is still winning that old guard vote - older women, the poor, and the civil rights era black leadership. Kennedy's early endorsement, and the fact that the Clinton-Kennedy political family relationship might have been permanently damaged by the Clintons actions, might get a large portion of those Democratic primary voting blocks into the Obama column.

Caroline Kennedy's poignant op-ed endorsement of Barack Obama in yesterday's New York Times, A President Like My Father, might help a bit as well...