Posted on 01/27/2008 6:42:48 PM PST by blam
Kennedy clan backs Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton
By Toby Harnden in Columbia, South Carolina
Last Updated: 2:14am GMT 28/01/2008
The Kennedy clan is to throw its weight behind Barack Obama's bid for the presidency following his victory in the South Carolina primary.
The endorsements by John F Kennedy's daughter Caroline and brother Senator Ted Kennedy were a blow to Hillary Clinton, who suffered a 28-point humiliation in the Southern state.
Caroline Kennedy has made public her support for Barack Obama
Mrs Clinton had sought to get the Democratic establishment behind her bid to become America's first female president.
But Caroline Kennedy, previously a supporter of Mrs Clinton, made public her support for Mr Obama in a New York Times article entitled "A President Like My Father".
"I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them," she wrote. "But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president - not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."
Sen Kennedy, who had been courted by Mrs Clinton, has privately made known his dismay at the Clinton campaign's negative tactics.
He is expected to announce his endorsement when Mr Obama appears in Washington today.
advertisementMrs Clinton, expecting a bad result, had left South Carolina before Saturday's polls closed. But the size of Mr Obama's win was a surprise.
It means that the pair go into the final stretch before next week's "Super Duper Tuesday", when 22 states vote, with two states each under their belts.
Campaigning in Macon, Georgia, Mr Obama said his victory showed that Americans were rejecting the politics of the 1990s, when Mrs Clinton's husband Bill was president.
"I do think that there is a certain brand of politics that we've become accustomed to... where we basically think anything is fair game," he said.
"There is no doubt that I think that in the '90s, we got caught up in a slash-and-burn politics that the American people are weary of."
I think there is more to it than that - at issue is control of the DNC as well, which the clintons have had for 15 years now.
She bears a strong resemblance to her aunt, Lee Bouvier Radziwell, Jackie’s sister.
Hadn’t thought of that - 900 FBI files -hmmm. You don’t suppose that some of what was in those 900 FBI files has gotten to the ears of many of the Democrats?
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