kennedy backs barak obama

[iceberg]

while it took 15 minutes to introduce ted kennedy and it sounded more like HE was running vs. simply supporting someone, it's done. a powerful democrat name of the past shuns clinton and goes with obama.

now on the flip side, help or hurt? i'd think it would help but my own views have never been too positive on old ted.

queue in JT to say how bad ted is and how this won't hurt or whatever else it takes to get him through the dream.

[Doomsday101]

while it took 15 minutes to introduce ted kennedy and it sounded more like HE was running vs. simply supporting someone, it's done. a powerful democrat name of the past shuns clinton and goes with obama.

now on the flip side, help or hurt? i'd think it would help but my own views have never been too positive on old ted.

queue in JT to say how bad ted is and how this won't hurt or whatever else it takes to get him through the dream.

I expect Obama to get Mass anyways but other than Mass few care what Teddy thinks. So I don't see this as a big help

[BrAinPaiNt]

I expect Obama to get Mass anyways but other than Mass few care what Teddy thinks. So I don't see this as a big help

Well initially I would say not a big deal...but some did not think Oprah supporting Obama was a big deal either.

Who knows.

Personally the only one I think Teddy truly supports is himself...oh and whatever his favor liquor happens to be at the time.

[Doomsday101]

Well initially I would say not a big deal...but some did not think Oprah supporting Obama was a big deal either.

Who knows.

Personally the only one I think Teddy truly supports is himself...oh and whatever his favor liquor happens to be at the time.

Oprah is actually liked by many people so it did not surprise me that it helped Obama; Ted only has his hardcore liberal groupies. If anything it may give people the ideal that Obama is more liberal than they think if Teddy is willing to back him

[iceberg]

he is backing obama or shunning clinton? *no i do not know here* but i'm just trying to get some unbiased background on it. when you say kennedy to me i get a cold shiver of a feeling but that's based off some really old history - maybe i need to put that away and try to understand more.

[ConcordCowboy]

Be afraid Barak...be very afraid...:p:

http://peaceint.org/umoar/Ted_Kennedy_John_Kerry.jpg

[heavyg]

he is backing obama or shunning clinton? *no i do not know here* but i'm just trying to get some unbiased background on it. when you say kennedy to me i get a cold shiver of a feeling but that's based off some really old history - maybe i need to put that away and try to understand more.

Thats my question. I also wonder if Obam's wins are more of the Dems coming out to vote AGAINTS Clinton. I make no secrete that I am a Republican. But this Democratic race intrigues me. I really believe Clinton has no shot

[ConcordCowboy]

he is backing obama or shunning clinton? *no i do not know here* but i'm just trying to get some unbiased background on it. when you say kennedy to me i get a cold shiver of a feeling but that's based off some really old history - maybe i need to put that away and try to understand more.

You mean stuff like this? :p:

http://firstfriday.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/ted-kennedy-chappaquiddick.jpg

[BrAinPaiNt]

You mean stuff like this? :p:

http://firstfriday.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/ted-kennedy-chappaquiddick.jpg

:lmao2: :lmao2:

I have been told by secret insiders that the reason Teddy did not drown in that incident is that it was a body of water instead of alcohol.

[ConcordCowboy]

:lmao2: :lmao2:

I have been told by secret insiders that the reason Teddy did not drown in that incident is that it was a body of water instead of alcohol.

:laugh2:

[vta]

Be afraid Barak...be very afraid...:p:

http://peaceint.org/umoar/Ted_Kennedy_John_Kerry.jpg

He's the mole.
Talk about Dividers, who outside of Mass has any respect for Ted Kennedy?

I'm not too sure this helps Obama.

[jterrell]

I do know Hillary pressed him for backing and he went to Obama instead.

Not sure how much it matters with Super Tuesday promising to hand Clinton the insurmountable lead.

I expect Hillary to win Massachusetts handily. She is winning those core groups handily in each state: Core Democrats, older voters and women.

Obama will really suffer without independent votes on Feb 5th.

It is interesting to me after seeing the tea leaves Obama is still gathering a wide array of support. I'd guess that is because Hillary was so moderate in Congress.

[heavyg]

I'd guess that is because Hillary was so moderate in Congress.

Like I said I think the reason Obama is gain so much support is people who do not normally vote are coming out just to place a vote againts Hillary.

And Moderate and Clinton together......Well, I believe that is what is called an Oxy-Moron.......lol

[ConcordCowboy]

He's the mole.
Talk about Dividers, who outside of Mass has any respect for Ted Kennedy?

I'm not too sure this helps Obama.

One way I could see it helping Obama would be that Kennedy has been a close personal and professional friend to the Clinton's...but now he's backing Obama?

As in if he's close to her and even he won't back her...well then there must be something really wrong with her.

Just my opinion.

[arglebargle]

The one thing this does, is open the way for other mainstream Dems to come out for Obama (and thus against Hilary). They aren't then saddled with quite the same spotlight. I think this move is mostly of import to the Democrat bureaucracy. More impressive was Caroline Kennedy's article and support.

Personally, I would be happy if Teddy was just flushed away. But that goes for a lot of the folks on the Hill as well.

[ConcordCowboy]

The one thing this does, is open the way for other mainstream Dems to come out for Obama (and thus against Hilary). They aren't then saddled with quite the same spotlight. I think this move is mostly of import to the Democrat bureaucracy. More impressive was Caroline Kennedy's article and support.

Personally, I would be happy if Teddy was just flushed away. But that goes for a lot of the folks on the Hill as well.

Agreed.

When she wrote "A President Like My Father" it carried much more weight than Ted's endorsement...no pun intended. :D

[iceberg]

HALPERIN’S TAKE: Six Reasons Why the Kennedy Endorsement is a Big DealWhile endorsements don’t usually matter much, Edward Kennedy’s does because:

1. He has a huge following with Hispanics, a big deal in California and other Super Tuesday states, and one of Obama’s weaknesses.

2. The symbolic Kennedy family thing — the ultimate message of change, viability, Democratic legitimacy, and youthful excitement.

3. The national press will be obsessed with the story for days and days to come, with no downside for Obama; the local press coverage when Kennedy travels for Obama will be ginormous.

4. It sends a message to other senators and superdelegates that it is OK to be for Obama — they don’t have to be afraid of the Clintons.

5. He has a huge following among working-class, traditional Democrats, one of Obama’s weaknesses.

6. He has a huge following among union households, another of Obama’s weaknesses.

[Doomsday101]

HALPERIN’S TAKE: Six Reasons Why the Kennedy Endorsement is a Big DealWhile endorsements don’t usually matter much, Edward Kennedy’s does because:

1. He has a huge following with Hispanics, a big deal in California and other Super Tuesday states, and one of Obama’s weaknesses.

2. The symbolic Kennedy family thing — the ultimate message of change, viability, Democratic legitimacy, and youthful excitement.

3. The national press will be obsessed with the story for days and days to come, with no downside for Obama; the local press coverage when Kennedy travels for Obama will be ginormous.

4. It sends a message to other senators and superdelegates that it is OK to be for Obama — they don’t have to be afraid of the Clintons.

5. He has a huge following among working-class, traditional Democrats, one of Obama’s weaknesses.

6. He has a huge following among union households, another of Obama’s weaknesses.

I think it may help but remember Teddy could not win when he ran for the Presidency

[iceberg]

i'm just posting news. i still don't see any one candidate standing out over the others. too much mud to sort through till they finalize their candidates then we'll see what happens.

[arglebargle]

I think it may help but remember Teddy could not win when he ran for the Presidency

I don't see this as being that great outside of the primaries. Some of the points Ice posted were ones I wasn't aware of (support among hispanics, etc), but I think this mostly works as an internal Dem issue. I know I certainly don't care much about what Teddy thinks.

[Doomsday101]

I don't see this as being that great outside of the primaries. Some of the points Ice posted were ones I wasn't aware of (support among hispanics, etc), but I think this mostly works as an internal Dem issue. I know I certainly don't care much about what Teddy thinks.

I agree. This is a help within the dem primaries outside the dems not many have ever been thrilled with Teddy. It is not like Teddy could make it off the family name and if you can't make it off Kennedy then you have some real problems.

[ZeroClub]

Teddy and Caroline's endorsements of Obama provide some help during the primaries.

Hillary has especially strong support (in the primaries) among the older democrats (e.g., above 50 years of age). Older democrats are likely to be the group most influenced by the Kennedys. So perhaps these endorsements get some of the older democrats to reconsider.

IMO, Bill and Hillary have been egregiously disingenuous in the past couple of weeks while going negative on Obama. I think that misbehavior hurts Hillary more than the Kennedy endorsements of Obama.

[iceberg]

Teddy and Caroline's endorsements of Obama provide some help during the primaries.

Hillary has especially strong support (in the primaries) among the older democrats (e.g., above 50 years of age). Older democrats are likely to be the group most influenced by the Kennedys. So perhaps these endorsements get some of the older democrats to reconsider.

IMO, Bill and Hillary have been egregiously disingenuous in the past couple of weeks while going negative on Obama. I think that misbehavior hurts Hillary more than the Kennedy endorsements of Obama.

i've seen a lot of stories saying bill needs to tone it down and stop acting in behalf of his wife. while i can understand his wanting to, i can also see where she needs to fight her own fights.

[jterrell]

Why Kennedy's Endorsement Matters

How will Ted Kennedy's endorsement affect the presidential race? The debate is already well underway. Skeptics note that endorsements don't have the same weight they did a few decades ago, when more voters took their cues from party leaders. Al Gore's endorsement of Howard Dean four years ago certainly didn't deliver the nomination.

But Kennedy's progressive record on economic issues, not to mention his family name, might give him unusual clout with older, working-class white voters -- ones who, until now, have strongly preferred Hillary Clinton. Kennedy is also said to be popular with Latinos, thanks in part to his history of championing liberal immigration reforms and to Robert Kennedy's early support of Cesar Chavez.

This is where the timing of Kennedy's announcement -- and peculiar dynamics of this race -- could prove critical. Latinos, who have strongly favored Clinton so far, are well-represented in the big states voting on February 5. And while Kennedy's endorsement alone surely isn't enough to swing a whole state like New Jersey or California, it might be enough to shift enough votes to change delegate counts -- which is what really matters at this point.

Remember, Democratic primaries aren't winner-take-all. Even if Clinton wins more votes in the biggest coastal states, a strong second-place showing by Obama in those places -- combined with winnings in Illinois and other interior states -- could give him the majority of the day's delegates. (Or at least keep the count pretty close.)

Of course, all of that is just guesswork, based on polling numbers that may not be accurate and assumptions about voter attitudes that may not be correct.

But while I can't say with confidence whether people will pay attention to Kennedy's endorsement, I feel certain that they should pay attention -- because Kennedy's embrace speaks directly to the misgivings (expressed, on more than one occasion, by me) that Obama was insufficiently committed to a progressive policy agenda and that he lacked the savvy to enact an ambitious, necessarily controversial agenda.

Consider: No member of Congress has a longer, truer record of championing liberal causes than Kennedy. He was fighting for universal coverage back when Hillary Clinton was still in law school. And when the times have called for confrontation, Kennedy has not flinched. Look back at 1995 and 1996, when programs like Medicare were under seige from a new and aggressive Republican majority, and you'll find Kennedy leading the counter-attack. In August 1996, after the Democrats had finally beaten back the Gingrich revolutionaries, then-Minority Leader Tom Daschle (now an Obama booster, by the way) said of Kennedy "I don't know anybody who contributed more." (Link $)

Still, Kennedy also has a strong pragmatic streak. It's hard to think of anybody in Congress who has produced as much important legislation, even in times when Democrats were out of power. (Henry Waxman is the only name that comes quickly to mind.) To accomplish this, Kennedy has sometimes embraced such unlikely allies as George W. Bush and Mitt Romney in order to push for such imperfect laws as No Child Left Behind and the recent Massachusetts health care reforms. But if those efforts have annoyed liberal allies now and then, they have generally served the liberal cause well. Just ask anybody covered under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), a bipartisan program from the late 1990s for which Kennedy was heavily responsible. (In fairness, both Clintons had a little something to do with that, too.)

To be sure, it's reasonable and necessary to ask whether Obama will can strike such a similarly deft balance between confrontation and compromise -- a question Paul Krugman poses in an important column today. It's also fair to treat skeptically the true meaning of any endorsement, given how frequently they reflect petty politics or personal strategic considerations rather than considered judgements about qualifications for office.

But it's not clear how Kennedy stands to gain politically by antagonizing Clinton, who remains the presumptive front-runner. Nor is there evidence of personal animus between the two. On the contrary, every account I've ever heard suggests Kennedy has a high regard for Clinton, going back to her days as First Lady.

So my hunch -- and, to be clear, it's just a hunch -- is that this is mostly the real thing. It may reflect Kennedy's anger over the recent campaign tactics, about which Kennedy apparently complained directly to the Clintons. It may reflect Kennedy's sense that Obama has tapped into the same idealism that JFK once did -- a feeling the former president's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, wrote about in her own Obama endorsement on the Times op-ed page yesterday. But I also think it reflects Kennedy's belief that Obama will ultimately serve the liberal cause better than Clinton could. And given that Kennedy has seen both presidential contenders up close, as Brian Beutler notes, that judgment has meaning.

Naturally, Kennedy's endorsement carries some risk, too. What will all those Republicans thinking about supporting Obama -- the Obamicans, as he has started calling them -- say when they see Kennedy embracing him?

Then again, I bet that's a problem Clinton wishes she had today.

--Jonathan Cohn

[jterrell]

I still expect this to all be moot in 8 days:)~

[CanadianCowboysFan]

while it took 15 minutes to introduce ted kennedy and it sounded more like HE was running vs. simply supporting someone, it's done. a powerful democrat name of the past shuns clinton and goes with obama.

now on the flip side, help or hurt? i'd think it would help but my own views have never been too positive on old ted.

queue in JT to say how bad ted is and how this won't hurt or whatever else it takes to get him through the dream.

as long as Ted isn't driving Obama near Chappaquidick (sp) then I'm sure Barack will be fine

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Teddy and Caroline's endorsements of Obama provide some help during the primaries.

Hillary has especially strong support (in the primaries) among the older democrats (e.g., above 50 years of age). Older democrats are likely to be the group most influenced by the Kennedys. So perhaps these endorsements get some of the older democrats to reconsider.

IMO, Bill and Hillary have been egregiously disingenuous in the past couple of weeks while going negative on Obama. I think that misbehavior hurts Hillary more than the Kennedy endorsements of Obama.

possibly but in both Canada and the US, we all complain about negative campaigns but negative ads work. Polls confirm that thesis.

[burmafrd]

negative campaigns work in ONE way: they drive off voters who are not truly commited- who will vote only if they really think its worthwhile. By driving off these voters, it leaves the election in the hands of the true beleivers of both parties- the fanatics and hard core. That has not served this country well very often.

[WiPatfan]

I hope the Clintons are as cocky as you.

[Bob Sacamano]

Ted, you aint John, or even Robert

[jterrell]

She stands for Democrats and for the nation, these family members say.
By Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kerry Kennedy

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-kennedy29jan29,0,1618955.story

January 29, 2008
This is a wonderful year for Democrats. Our party is blessed with the most impressive array of primary candidates in modern history. All would make superb presidents.

By now you may have read or heard that our cousin, Caroline Kennedy, and our uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, have come out in favor of Sen. Barack Obama. We, however, are supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton because we believe that she is the strongest candidate for our party and our country.


While talk of unity and compromise are inspiring to a nation wary of divisiveness, America stands at a historic crossroads where real issues divide our political landscapes. Democrats believe that America should not be torturing people, eavesdropping on our citizens or imprisoning them without habeas corpus or other constitutional rights. We should not be an imperial power. We need healthcare for all and a clean, safe environment.

The loftiest poetry will not solve these issues. We need a president willing to engage in a fistfight to safeguard and restore our national virtues.

We have worked with Hillary Clinton for 15 years (and in Kathleen's case, 25 years) and witnessed the power and depth of her convictions firsthand. We've seen her formidable work ethic, courage in the face of adversity and her dignity and clear head in crisis. We've also seen her two-fisted willingness to enter the brawl when America's principles are challenged. Her measured rhetoric, political savvy and pragmatism shield the heart of our nation's most determined and most democratic warrior.

She has been an uncompromising and loyal ally for each of us in our battles to protect the environment and to promote human rights around the world and juvenile justice in America. Hillary is a problem-solver, listening to people and then achieving solutions by changing attitudes.

Her transformational leadership was on display when she ran for the Senate seat in New York that had been held by our father, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. She faced rabid, heavily funded attacks from the far right and the challenge of prevailing in traditionally Republican upstate New York. Traveling with her, we watched admiringly as she persuasively articulated an inspiring and unifying vision rooted in American values and history. Then, through patience, hard work, leadership and political acumen, she transformed many of those rock-solid conservative counties into solid Democratic strongholds.

We look forward to working beside her in the general election as she uses those same talents to change once rigid opinions and political affiliations across the nation.

Like our father, Hillary has devoted her life to embracing and including those on the bottom rung of society's ladder -- giving voice to the alienated and disenfranchised and working to alleviate poverty and injustice, while urging that we cannot advance ourselves as a nation by leaving our poorer brothers and sisters behind.

She's been an equally effective champion for human rights and for women's rights, a worldwide cause that will profit enormously by her elevation to the presidency. She has worked for peace in Northern Ireland and fought to bridge religious, racial and ethnic divides from Bosnia to the Middle East to South Africa. She has shown a rare understanding that American values can only be exported by moral leadership, by a strong home economy and by a detailed understanding of the history and cultural backdrops of the nations we engage.

She understands, as our current administration does not, the uses of power. The world, she says, is hungry for U.S. leadership but will not accept our bullying. She knows the difference and will reestablish America's lost prestige and moral authority.

Hillary Clinton's political career has been centered in comforting the afflicted, afflicting the comfortable and reminding Americans what it means to be American. As a young lawyer, she focused on children's issues and legal aid. As first lady of Arkansas, she brought healthcare to rural areas and helped reform the state's lagging education system.

As first lady, she courageously took on healthcare reform. When a massive propaganda campaign by Big Pharma and the radical right derailed her efforts, she didn't give up. She helped create the nationally acclaimed Children's Health Insurance Program. That kind of persistence in pursuit of our highest ideals is the brand of leadership America now requires. Inspirational leadership comes in many forms.

Seldom has history confronted America with such daunting challenges: a catastrophic foreign policy that has cost us our international leadership and aggravated the threat of terror; a misbegotten war that is squandering precious American lives and treasure; a healthcare system that leaves millions of Americans without coverage; irresponsible corporate power that is corroding our democracy and outsourcing our jobs, aggravating global warming and other environmental crises and reducing our economy to shambles.

We need a leader who is battle-tested, resilient and sure-footed on the shifting landscapes of domestic and foreign policy. Hillary Clinton will move our country forward while promoting its noblest ideals.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an environmental advocate and Kerry Kennedy is a human rights activist.

[burmafrd]

Caroline and Ted trump the others; just look at the difference in coverage by the media.