Kennedys endorse Obama

ENDORSEMENTS

From Kennedys

DEMOCRATIC SEN. EDWARD M. KENNEDY of Massachusetts will endorse Senate colleague Barack Obama for president today, party officials confirmed Sunday. Kennedy boasts a broad national fundraising and political network.

KENNEDY’S NIECE, Caroline Kennedy, endorsed Obama on Saturday. She is the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy. The Kennedys are to make the announcement during a campaign rally at American University in Washington, D.C.

ANOTHER OF SEN. KENNEDY’S NIECES, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, issued a statement Sunday in support of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. She said her decision was based on more than 25 years of knowing Clinton.

So far, Obama won Iowa and South Carolina, Clinton won New Hampshire and Nevada.

In eight days, on Feb. 5, Obama and Clinton face off in the contest dubbed “Super Tuesday,” the biggest day of presidential primary voting in U.S. history. Twenty-two states hold Democratic primaries or caucuses that day, spanning diverse political terrain from California to Massachusetts. In all, nearly 1,700 delegates will be awarded on Super Tuesday, a big boost toward the 2,025 needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.

Combined dispatches