Kennedys Claim Their Own

In the wake of Senator Obama's landslide primary victory in South Carolina, the Kennedys have made a big to-do of formally endorsing him for president. First it was JFK's daughter Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg over the weekend. Today it's Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). Considering the questionable state of sobriety at a given moment for those last two, I'm not so sure that they won't regret it in the morning, but I am sure that Obama will make the most of their seal of approval.

Says Allahpundit:

Having him and Caroline endorse as a pair will go a long way towards sidetracking the post-Carolina “black candidate” narrative Team Hillary’s trying to jump-start, so either Obama’s the luckiest pol alive or this is a master stroke of media management by him and his campaign

A dead-on assessment, but what I find interesting is the convergence of the Kennedy family and Obama's existence. Don't forget; the Kennedy Foundation is directly responsible for Obama being here. (Of course, the foundation is responsible for me being here also but I'm not exactly "on-message." Story of my life.)

Do you wonder what's going on behind the scenes at Team Clinton? These lines from the Politico article might give some indication:

Rejecting a personal entreaty from President Bill Clinton, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy plans to endorse Barack Obama for president in a joint appearance on Monday, Democratic sources said. [SNIP]

“This is the biggest Democratic endorsement Obama could possibly get short of Bill Clinton,” said a high-level Democrat.

:::snort:::

UPDATE: Obama has an uphill battle in the big states with the exception of Georgia and, of course, Illinois.

That the Kennedys, Senator John Kerry--you remember him, don't you?--and several other Democrat senators are going out of their way to give Obama a push in the face of these numbers says more than their estimation of him as "the face of hope"--it says that there's some bad blood between Senator Clinton and some of her colleagues. Juicy.

[Re-edited]

(Thanks to Gabriel Malor at Ace of Spades HQ)

Comments

[Wry Mouth]

Do I have to still pine for a time when all Kennedys will be relegated back to the hills, runnin moonshine? Invisible and irrelevant to political life? Purty please?

[baldilocks]

Running moonshine is respectable.

[Mescalero]

If I were Barak Obama, I would seriously question an endorsement by second-degree murderer Ted Kennedy. Let's remember folks that the Kennedy fortune was built on the backs of prostitutes liquored up with bootleg Irish booze supplied by Joe Kennedy, Sr. during prohibition. Joe Kennedy, Sr. provided three honorable sons who died in service to the American people. Unfortunately, the fourth son (Teddy), as well as Joe's grandsons, do not fall into the honorable category!!