Kerry's backing gives Obama fundraising power

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- As Democrat Barack Obama accepted the endorsement Thursday of John Kerry, their party's 2004 presidential nominee, the Illinois senator insisted his candidacy still represents a break from the past and hope for the future.

"The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result," Obama said as he stood by Kerry at the College of Charleston.

Political observers say Kerry's endorsement may not translate into votes for Obama in early nominating states such as South Carolina, where Kerry lost the Democratic primary to John Edwards in 2004 before eventually picking him as his running mate. Kerry's involvement, however, gives Obama added organizational and fundraising strength.

"Democrats are not going to march in lock step with whatever John Kerry tells them," said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political scientist at the University of Southern California. "But what he brings is a Rolodex and a big list of contributors."

Democratic consultant Donna Brazile, who managed Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000, said it is a "huge symbolic endorsement" because of Kerry's military service, status as the party's former standard-bearer and "huge fan base."

She noted that it could "help Obama write his experience narrative," a reference to criticism from rival Hillary Rodham Clinton that he doesn't have the seasoning to be president.

Obama narrowly lost the New Hampshire primary this week to the New York senator.

Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, also referred to Clinton's criticism as he explained his support for the young politician he tapped to deliver the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention — a speech that pushed Obama into the national spotlight.

"We are electing judgment and character, not years on this Earth," Kerry said, adding that Obama is the candidate most capable of helping "our country turn the page and get America moving by uniting and ending the division we have faced."