Obama receiving backing of key Democrat Kennedy.http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSHER70590720080128Mon Jan 28, 2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Democrats' leading liberal voice, is endorsing Barack Obama for the party's presidential nomination on Monday while a new poll found Republican John McCain with a slim lead on the eve of a crucial Florida nominating contest.
Obama, who trounced fellow Sen. Hillary Clinton in South Carolina's primary on Saturday, also won the backing of Kennedy's son, U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, and his niece, Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late President John Kennedy.
On Sunday, Caroline Kennedy endorsed Obama, saying he could inspire people like her charismatic father did. Obama of Illinois would be the nation's first black president. He already is riding a crest of momentum with the win in South Carolina after losses to Clinton in New Hampshire and Nevada but the race is far from over.
The powerful, high-profile endorsement was to come at a rare rally in Washington, where both Obama and Clinton diverted on Monday to attend President George W. Bush's last State of the Union address.
Republican presidential contenders, meanwhile, crisscrossed Florida where a new Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll showed Sen. McCain of Arizona opening a narrow lead -- 33 percent to 30 percent -- over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ahead of the state's primary on Tuesday.
McCain picked up 3 percentage points after obtaining the endorsement of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist. The poll had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.
McCain and Romney split the last three nominating contests as Republicans and Democrats battle to represent their parties in November's presidential election. The winner will succeed Bush, whose second term ends in next January.
McCain won in South Carolina and Romney in Michigan and Nevada. The winner in Florida will gain valuable momentum heading into the February 5 "Super Tuesday" voting, when more than 20 states will have nominating contests.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani are battling for a distant third.
"We're making our stand here in Florida, and we're going to win," Giuliani, polling just 14 percent, told CBS's "Early Show."
Giuliani also brushed off the fact that polls show him trailing in his home state. "I win the primary in Florida, we'll be right back on top in a lot of these polls," he said.
Kennedy, 75, first elected to the Senate from Massachusetts in 1962, could give Obama a big boost in his battle with Clinton, a New York senator. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, drew fire from some fellow Democrats last week for his criticism of Obama, which many saw as divisive.
Kennedy is a favorite of organized labor and other liberal advocacy groups that helped fellow Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts win the Democratic 2004 presidential nomination. His support, however, might not got over so well with more conservative voters.
There was some discord in the Kennedy family, with former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend issuing a statement on Sunday in support of Clinton, who would become the first woman president.
The daughter of former U.S. Sen. Bobby Kennedy said her brother, Bobby, and sister, Kerry, also supported the former first lady.
In Florida, Romney continued to criticize McCain's ability to handle fiscal matters and charged that an energy bill proposed by McCain and Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman was "a liberal Democratic course" that would hurt the economy by raising gas prices.
"One thing we should really give Governor Romney for is he is consistent. He has consistently taken both sides on any major issue," McCain countered at a shipyard in Jacksonville.