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Politics

Kerry's keynote in '04 gets his backing in '08

By Times Wires
Published January 11, 2008

CHARLESTON, S.C.

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the White House on Thursday in a timely slap at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as well as John Edwards, who was his own vice presidential running mate. "Martin Luther King said that the time is always right to do what is right," Kerry told a cheering crowd. "Barack Obama can be, will be and should be the next president of the United States." He praised Obama as the only Democrat in the race who could inspire a movement to dislodge Washington partisanship and burnish a new image around the world. Kerry chose Obama to deliver the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention, which hastened Obama's political ascent. His endorsement is expected to boost Obama's fundraising.

SANTA FE, N.M.

No endorsement from Richardson

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, ending his long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday, praised all of his Democratic rivals but endorsed no one. He encouraged voters to "take a long and thoughtful look" and elect one of them president. Richardson, 60, says he returns to "the best job in the world" as New Mexico's governor.

Primary garners prime TV audience

The interest may evaporate when American Idol returns to the air, but Americans are tuning in big time to political coverage on cable television. Roughly 8-million viewers watched coverage of Tuesday's New Hampshire primaries, according to Nielsen Media Research, and that is more than double the cable news viewership for the same coverage in 2004. CNN averaged 3.3-million viewers, more than quadruple its usual audience. Fox News Channel drew 3.1-million viewers, double its average, and MSNBC attracted 1.6-million, triple its average.

[Last modified January 11, 2008, 01:34:04]