Kennedy's Hot on the Stump for Obama

Legendary lion thrills to campaign, is surprise hit with MTV generation
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 2, 2008 11:11 AM CST
Kennedy's Hot on the Stump for Obama
Sen. Edward Kennedy campaings for Sen. Barack Obama, Friday, Feb. 1, 2008, at a community gathering at East Los Angeles College in Monterrey Park, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)   (Associated Press)

When Ted Kennedy endorses you, he doesn't just phone it in: The 75-year-old Massachusetts senator is seriously stumping for Barack Obama—and taking the Southwest by storm. Since backing Obama in a fiery speech on Monday, Kennedy has tried out his Spanish in Santa Fe and sung on an LA radio show, the New York Times reports. And audiences young enough to be his grandchildren are eating it up.

“It’s like when Tony Bennett suddenly became hip again after the kids discovered him,” says a Democratic strategist. "He’s MTV now." While he reserves for his slain brothers John and Robert "a pedestal unto themselves," Kennedy hasn't shied from favorable comparisons of Obama and JFK. Backing Obama, his son Patrick says, is “like an opportunity for him to connect with the touchstone of his brothers’ legacy.” (More Barack Obama stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X