As the AP article points out, Kerry shot Obama to stardom by giving him the '04 Convention spot, so this isn't much of a surprise. Still momentum-granting news, though.

Aside from Gore, is there anyone whose endorsment is bigger than Kerry's?

I really don't know why Obama didn't use him in New Hampshire.

He would have been better off rolling it out before that primary because he had this in the bag a long time ago.

I guess they were really confident about a win in NH.

Hubris.

Does it make a difference? It seems that all the people who hated John Kerry, ala deaniacs, are now Obama supporters.

I'm not going to put down Kerry because I think he is a wonderful person and kudos to Obama for getting the endorsement. It certainly is better than Johnson's endorsement.

Wouldn't he have endorsed Clinton?

.... JUST KIDDING.

Seriously, if he wanted to help wouldn't he have endorsed before New Hampshire?  

They represent some big organizational bloc that can provide workers and resources. Kerry's does neither. It will be forgotten sooner than Bradley's. It also tends to reinforce the impression he has democratic elite lining up for him against her and the little folks.

How is having a limo lib from Boston, who is BFF with Teddy Kennedy going to help Obama in SC?

I think if there is one key state where Bill Clinton will be an asset to Hillary it is SC.  He will go into the churches and charm the pants off the ladies ... literally.  

Nobody gives a damn about John Kerry. He was a disastrous candidate, a self serving fool. He has no die hards or partisans waiting to see what he wants them to do.

Obama might as well trumpet the endorsement of Michael Dukakis.

I'm surprised Kerry endorsed the guy who "bashed" him so thoroughly.

/snark

It's possible Bill Clinton going on the attack the way he did, especially trying to criticize Obama's pre-convention remark about his anti-Iraq War stance, pushed Kerry off the fence.  It's one thing for people here to try to misrepresent what was clearly a being a good soldier remark, but when the ex-President does the same it's pretty outrageous.  If nothing else, Kerry can give testimony to Obama's consistent behind the scenes work in opposition to the War and moving the Senate to a gradual withdrawal vote.

So does this mean Edwards will support Clinton?  After all, for Kerry to endorse Obama and not Edwards is a bit of a slap in the face.

Sorry, Edwards supporters.  I think he's done.  Yes, I'm prepared for the onslaught.

Obama got 3 endorsements today so far... Kerry, Johnson and Nancy Pel... I mean George Miller.  

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I don't think this endorsement means a lot in the world of inside baseball, but it matters a whole lot in the news cycle.  There are few Dems as well-known as John Kerry.  Heck, I first heard about this endorsement this morning when my wife was watching the Today show or whatever.  It confirms Obama is still a legit contender in this race.

I just hope he's not going to be giving Obama any advice on how to deliver a speech.

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Those of you who honestly think this is a bad thing because of what a failure Kerry is may want to remember that George McGovern and Walter Mondale have endorsed Hillary Clinton.

<sarcasm>Oh, yes, John Kerry rocks my world.</sarcasm>

The only endorsement that would matter for me is one from Howard Dean (he can't make one as DNC Chair) or Russ Feingold. That is, of course, if I was an idiot and already didn't have a candidate I'm supporting: John Edwards.

So, don't worry, Russ. You're off the hook.

could help in Mass, Feb 5th, especially if his team helps actively in the ground game there.

helps for a news cycle

is probably irrelevant to those who already have a horse in the race

can't tell whether the mailing list thing will matter or not, probably helps IF he looks like the presumptive nominee, to get the train going quickly for the general.  Probably can't do much for him in the primary.

but what it really does is give a bit of a counter to the narrative that Hillary is the candidate who insiders think can win in the general.  It doesn't  boost Obama's support so much as firewall him against certain types of insinuations.
 

...That's what this endorsement says to me.

Obama has been railing against the status quo and he then gets endorsed by someone who's been part of the status quo for over twenty years.

Remember four years ago, when everyone said Dean was the insurgent while Kerry was the establishment candidate.  Remember when Al Gore endorsed Dean, and the consensus afterwards was that Dean's Gore endorsement was the beginning of the end for him (If I remember right, people said that Dean couldn't be the outsider candidate with the support of the ultimate insider).

That's what has just happened to Obama.  Kerry is to Obama as Gore was to Dean.

I think it just cements Barack Obama's reputation as appealing to the elite Dems, the 'wine drinkers' and wind-surfing crowd. In South Carolina, that may win Obama some votes in Charleston. But I think Kerry's disappointing run in 2004 will be sort of hanging all over this endorsement.

It's a REAL stab in the back to John Edwards, on the eve of his run in South Carolina. I think it could backfire on Obama, frankly. Kerry's not that well-liked in S.C., particularly among working class democrats, which are Clinton's constituency.

And, it's a real stab in the back to Bill Clinton, too, since Big Dog went out right after heart surgery, barely strong enough to do so, and rallied the Dems for Kerry with huge turnouts.

John Kerry just can't help himself. He steps in it on a regular basis.

Nothing to see here, folks, move along...

First Bill Bradley.

Then, John Kerry.

I guess Michael Dukakis should be right around the corner!

This is the worst possible image for Obama.  

The big Democratic loser of 2004, whose political instincts were in the toilet for much of that year, is endorsing the loser of the first Democratic Primary of 2008.

Kerry was so terribly disliked by Democrats after his disastrous loss in 2004 that he could not count upon a single Democrat wanting him to run again.

Thank God for Hillary.  This is one endorsement I would avoid like the plague.

It is scary to read some of the posts here.  Thank goodness others like lambros above are accurate.

Kerry is a guy who got the second most votes in history and NOBODY LIKE HIM.

There's not 1 Kerry democrat.  He left no mark in 2004.  Dean dominated 2004, changed the issues and tone.  Then he dominated the DNC and has done an excellent job getting up competitive in all states and in the Majority.

I HAVE NEVER LIKED DEAN. I still don't.  But he is a success.  Kerry is someone I could tolerate until he got swift boated and looked very weak.

How Kerry fits in to Obama's theme of Change, I don't know.

I honestly would have told him to endorse Hillary for my sake.  No joking.

when normal politicians jump on to your campaign. You are in trouble. For him to win he needs to keep his change theme and outsider theme going.  It's hard to be credible with an insider like Kerry.

The same thing happended to Dean IMO.  Once Gore came aboard, how fresh could Dean be?  

These candidates start out with a plan, get surprised that its' working, and then allow the "pros" to take it over.

I often wonder if people like Gore and Kerry are really working for the opponents.  They have to know they won't help who they endorse.

We're all just guessing, but my guess Kerry will be used to specifically counter the cynical attacks on Obama's record.  He will be used as an insider to tell what really is going on, how effective he is, how dedicated he is, etc.  How what he offers is more than mere hope but real effective change because his style is particularly good at getting things done, while at the same time being completely committed to reforming the governmental system.

Actually, "not endorsing anyone" was an option too.

Barack Obama picked up at least three super-delegates today (Kerry, Miller & Johnson) -- by y=the reckoning in your sig line do you think today is one & a half times more important than Iowa?  Oh, yes, I hope you have a sense of humor, it seems to be rare these days on many blogs.

I see Kerry being attacked by some for not endorsing Edwards. Why does he have to? He chose him as VP 4 years ago. Obama was not in the running at that time. He should not be limited by his 2004 choice of VP.

For once, I would like to see a person say "I am endorse person A and person B. May the best of these two win." The same with the unions in Nevada. They could have easily endorsed Obama and Hillary or Obama and Edwards insetead of making so much drama for so many days.

To be fair, apparently John Edwards was the one who argued against saying their Iraq War votes were a mistake.  Part of the bad feeling between the two, if there actually is any, is that Kerry got pissed off at Edwards' apology article in light of him being the one to argue so vehemently against that during the campaign.

Kerry doesn't strike me as someone who's very happy with the establishment. There are obvious reasons, there are also things like his reaction to Lieberman in 2006.

It makes perfect sense that he would endorse Obama. It also runs contrary to the idea that Obama can't be an outsider if he gets "insider" endorsements.

It's funny, isn't it? When Obama appeals to independents, it proves that he's unappealing to liberals, and when he gets endorsements that show that he does appeal to liberals, he's just another insider. Why, it couldn't possibly be that he could do both, right?

This must be a real blow to John Edwards...

Now if Obama can get Al Gore to endorse him, as Gore did Howard Dean, he'll have the nomination locked up.

homer   www.altara.blogspot.com

I hope we can start to realize that arranged marriages such as Kerry/Edwards or
a combination of any of the current Dem candidates is not a good thing.

Which ever candidate wins..he/she should have a VP with the same philosophy.

Up to and past 2/5 the Dem candidates will separate themselves....

If we cannot trust our candidate to choose whom they want personally as a VP, how can we really trust ANY of their choices as President?

this is awesome for Hillary.  Kerry was the worst candidate.  I heard that Teresa Heinz will be endorsing Hillary :)