John Kerry Endorses Barack Obama

Illinois Senator Barack Obama picked up a major endorsement today in his battle for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination: Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the Democrats’ 2004 Presidential candidate, has endorsed Obama for President.

Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, planned to announce his support Thursday at 11 a.m. EST at a rally at the College of Charleston, said a Democrat familiar with Kerry’s decision. The 2004 nominee was to argue that Obama can best unite the country and has the potential to create transformational change, the person said.

Kerry lost the South Carolina Democratic primary in 2004 to John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator who now is running third in the 2008 campaign behind Hillary Rodham Clinton and Obama.

Besides any potential help for Obama, Thursday’s endorsement was a slap at Edwards, who was Kerry’s running mate in the last election. The two had their differences during the campaign over strategy and spending. In post-mortem interviews, Edwards said he would have been more aggressive in challenging the unsubstantiated allegations of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the Vietnam War veterans who questioned Kerry’s military record.

Kerry’s endorsement also was a jab at Clinton, the New York Democrat who won the New Hampshire primary after a loss to Obama in the Iowa caucuses.

Analysts could quibble with this announcement in hard political terms. As it stands now, Edwards seems to be a candidate who is simply not catching on and who is likely to have a MAJOR problem with the women’s vote if he is nominated due to his mean-spirited reaction to Clinton’s crying incident.

Political reporting is often cast in the negative, but from a positive point of view it gives Obama the blessing of a prominent Democrat. As the race goes on — and forget any predictions that it’s going to be a cake-walk for either Obama or Clinton – these Democratic party elites’ endorsements will take on increasing value both within the party and in the battle for overall media images.

TPM Election Central has this reaction:

The cable nets are already portraying this as a “major blow” to John Edwards. But this is just silly. No one expected Kerry to endorse Edwards — the two fell out in a big way after Edwards publicly questioned Kerry’s handling of the 2004 race.

In particular, Edwards claimed that he had wanted to hit back harder against the Swift Boat Vets attacks. A Kerry endorsement of Edwards just wasn’t going to happen.

The New York Times’ excellent The Caucus blog notes that Kerry has enjoyed warm ties with Obama for years:

The endorsement is weeks in the making.

In the final days before the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Kerry was on the verge of endorsing Mr. Obama, several senior Democratic officials said, but a final decision wasn’t made because it wasn’t clear how it would affect the campaign. So Mr. Kerry decided to hold off on the endorsement until after the New Hampshire primary.

The endorsement ceremony today, on the campus of the College of Charleston, brings the relationship of the men full circle.

It was back in 2004 when Mr. Kerry selected Mr. Obama – then a state senator, vying for a U.S. Senate seat – to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. The speech elevated the stature of Mr. Obama almost overnight, launched the reprinting of his book, “Dreams From My Father,” and set his political career in overdrive.

Mr. Obama’s second-place finish in New Hampshire on Tuesday may have slowed some of his potential endorsements, aides said, but several Democrats are expected to announce their support soon.

Obama noted yesterday he intends to take the gloves off and fight Chicago-style. Both he and Clinton can be expected to do just that and coming months will likely see prominent Democrats linked up with each camp.

All of this is important because in the excitement and rush of mainstream and new media coverage, what’s really happening here often gets lost: one primary or loss will not a nomination make in the case of Obama or Clinton.

The goal is to COLLECT DELEGATES and get more than the other.

And in this Edwards could eventually play a key role…if it goes all the way to the convention and his endorsement (or delegates) have a say in who gets the nomination. Party bigwigs will have to choose sides in what is shaping up as battle for the future direction of the Democratic Party.

AND ALSO:
–The Plank:

I don’t know if this helps Obama much, but, if nothing else, Kerry’s endorsement could come in handy in Massachusetts on February 5, where Obama already has the support of Deval Patrick.

P.S. Of course, the one endorsement from a Democratic nominee that would help is Gore’s, but I recently asked a couple plugged-in Democratic politicos if they thought he’d ever pull the trigger, and they all said they doubted it. Their thinking was that, post-Nobel, Gore’s almost above that sort of thing.

–The Politico:

For Obama, this endorsement fills a particular need: In addition to winning the nomination in 2004, Kerry is considered a strong voice on national security issues and a respected elder of the Democratic establishment.

Neither of those factors would do much for Clinton, who is strong on both.

But Obama needs to show donors, voters and activists that he can attract more traditional support and win over the decision-makers in the party.

Thus far, he has succeeded mostly at bringing young voters and independents into the fold.

Moreover, Kerry maintains a pretty strong fundraising network and impressive e-mail list of potential donors.

Kerry is putting an e-mail list with millions of addresses at Obama’s disposal, according to party sources.

–A Spork In The Drawer’s headline is “Obama’s Toast”:

He wins the coveted John Kerry endorsement.

–Wizbang Politics:

Yes I think this can be considered a slapdown of Edwards. I hardly find it surprising. The Democratic party in Connecticut(and in other parts of the US) turned against their 2000 VP candidate Joe Lieberman when he ran for re-election in 2006. You could cite these two instances as proof Democrats eat their own.

–Macsmind:

Doubt it has much effect, except where Lurch has support, and that’s……?

–Cadillac Tight:

Well, I’ve been waiting for awhile to see what effect John Kerry’s endorsement would have on whoever he bestowed it upon, but I guess I’ll be disappointed this time around. Having made the safe choice to endorse Obama, Kerry will obviously try to claim credit for any poll bump Obama may experience henceforth. I’d have preferred it if he would have endorsed Edwards, but I seem to recall they no longer get along quite so well.

–Ed Morrissey:

This seems strange on a couple of different levels. Kerry hardly ran as the insurgent candidate in 2004; that was Howard Dean. Kerry represents the Establishment in the Democratic Party, a quasi-Brahmin who has remained in the Senate largely through the offices of Ted Kennedy instead of any legislative accomplishments of his own. The man who authored six whole bills in twenty years hardly qualifies to speak about transformational change. What has he ever done to affect it himself? Kerry seems a much better fit for the Clinton team.

–Michelle Malkin:

Will he be for Obama before he’s against him? Because, you know, he’s kind of famous for that…

–My DD:

This is pretty big news, especially coming right on the heels of Clinton’s New Hampshire win. I suspect it may have been more impactful in December than now, but still, this could create some momentum for Barack in South Carolina where Kerry is making the announcement while Hillary Clinton focuses on Nevada.

Additional blog reaction is HERE.