It was truly an extraordinary moment in American politics: there, on television, you could see three key Kennedy members passing the torch of the Kennedy family legacy to Democratic Senator Barack Obama — with John F. Kennedy’s brother, declaring Obama inspired him, endorsing Obama while specifically countering key talking points of Obama’s prime husband-wife competitors.

Make no mistake about it: Senator Teddy Kennedy did not give a pro-forma endorsement.

He answered some of the charges and what many consider innuendo raised by the campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton, her widely-criticized husband former President Bill Clinton, and by various surrogates who have tried to raise doubts about Obama.

And he did it Kennedy style, with a rousing voice, old-style political rhetoric tone, a knowing nod of the head, a twinkle in his eye — and a passion that seemed to lift young people in the audience:

Two generations of Kennedys—the Democratic Party’s best known political family—endorsed Barack Obama for president on Monday, with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy calling him a “man with extraordinary gifts of leadership and character,” a worthy heir to his assassinated brother.

“I feel change in the air,” Kennedy said in remarks salted with scarcely veiled criticism of Obama’s chief rival for the nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, as well as her husband, the former president.

“I have marveled at his grit and grace,” he said of the man a full generation younger than he is.

Kennedy’s endorsement was ardently sought by all three of the remaining presidential contenders, and he delivered it at a pivotal time in the race. A liberal lion in his fifth decade in the Senate, the Massachusetts senator is in a position to help Obama court Hispanic voters as well as rank-and-file members of labor unions, two key elements of the Democratic Party.

He is expected to campaign actively for Obama in the days before a string of delegate-rich primaries and caucuses across 24 states on Feb. 5, beginning later this week in Arizona, New Mexico and California.

The senator made his comments at a crowded campaign rally that took on the appearances of a Kennedy family embrace of Obama, who sat smiling as he heard their praise.

He was introduced by Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president, who said Obama “offers that same sense of hope and inspiration” as did her father. Rep. Patrick Kennedy also endorsed Obama from the stage before a boisterous crowd at American University.

But the politically most-significant part was how Kennedy’s remarks zeroed in on the Clinton criticisms and widely-denounced tactics used against Obama. He made it clear that although Hillary Clinton was a respected Senate colleague, he rejected the style and substance of some of the Clinton campaign. And he kept stressing on how Obama’s candidacy was of the future and that voters had to choose between the future (Obama) or the past (Bill and Hillary Clinton).

It’s like he made a list of the Clinton talking points — and then answered them. A few highlights:

“From the beginning, [Obama] opposed the war in Iraq. And let no one deny that truth,” he said, an obvious reference to former President Clinton’s statement that Obama’s early anti-war stance was a “fairy tale.”

“With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion.

“With Barack Obama we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay,” Kennedy said.

Various reports suggest that Kennedy had tried to cool things down but he couldn’t — partially due to a seemingly over-caffeinated Bill Clinton who increasingly took on the role of a political hatchet-man. And there were no signs the Clinton campaign was going to rein Bill in:

The Massachusetts senator had remained on the sideline of the presidential campaign for months, saying he was friends with Obama, Clinton and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, as well as several Senate colleagues who are no longer in the race.

Lately, according to several associates, Kennedy became angered with what he viewed as racially divisive comments by Bill Clinton. Nearly two weeks ago, he played a personal role in arranging a brief truce between the Clintons and Obama on the issue.

“There was another time, when another young candidate was running for president and challenging America to cross a new frontier. He faced criticism from the preceding Democratic president, who was widely respected in the party,” Kennedy said, referring to Harry S. Truman.

“And John Kennedy replied, ‘The world is changing. The old ways will not do. … It is time for a new generation of leadership.

“So it is with Barack Obama,” he added.

Kennedy began his remarks by paying tribute to Sen. Clinton’s advocacy for issues such as health care and women’s rights. “Whoever is our nominee will have my enthusiastic support,” he said.

But he quickly pivoted to a strong endorsement of Obama, whom he said “has extraordinary gifts of leadership and character, matched to the extraordinary demands of this moment in history.”

“I believe that a wave of change is moving across America,” Kennedy said.

The Washington Post adds:

The three Kennedys, taking turns speaking at lectern bearing the slogan, “Change We Can Believe In,” invoked the inspiration of former president John F. Kennedy in supporting the candidacy of Obama, a first-term senator who seeks to become the nation’s first African American president.

Addressing a cheering, overflow crowd in the university’s Bender Arena, Sen. Kennedy hailed Obama as a candidate who “has lit a spark of hope amid the fierce urgency of now.” Calling on Americans to “have the courage to choose change,” he declared, “It time again for a new generation of leadership! It is time now for Barack Obama!”

The endorsement by the senior senator from Massachusetts was widely seen as important for Obama because it gives him the imprimatur of a major leader of the Democratic establishment.

But it also highlights a split in one of America’s most politically prominent families, reflecting the division and uncertainty in the establishment as the race for the Democratic nomination heats up. Another of Kennedy’s nieces, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a former Democratic lieutenant governor of Maryland, is supporting Clinton. So is a nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading environmental activist.

Aides to Clinton, who was campaigning today in Connecticut and Massachusetts, said endorsements matter much less than delegates to the Democratic convention.

Will it help?

In the end, perhaps not. Super Tuesday is said to favor Clinton.

But if the Clinton campaign continues with the same type of tactics and style that have brought it criticism and led to the Kennedy clan transferring their legacy formally to Obama Mrs. Clinton may find that if she wins the nomination some needed voters may stay home — despite Teddy Kennedy’s assurances that no matter what Democrats will remain united to get a Democrat in the White House.