Intended or not, one of the consequences of making Barack Obama the “black candidate” is to damage his cause among Latino voters. And that’s a constitutency where having Ted Kennedy’s endorsement might matter. There are still lots of households with photos of JFK, RFK, and César Chavez in the living room.
Apparently EMK is willing to do some actual work:
Kennedy plans to campaign actively for Obama, an aide said, and will focus particularly among Hispanics and labor union members, who are important voting blocks in several Feb. 5 states, including California, New York, New Jersey, Arizona and New Mexico.
Update Brian Beutler analyzes the endorsement picture in the Senate, and argues that the Kennedy endorsement actually contains information about the likely Presidential competence of the two candidates, both of whom he has had a chance to observe up close.
