Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill, stands with Senator Ted Kennedy (right), D-Mass, Rep Patrick Kennedy (left), D-RI and Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president John F. Kennedy, (second from right), during a rally for Obama at American University yesterday in Washington, DC. - AP

WASHINGTON (AP):

Barack Obama yesterday won a coveted endorsement by Sen Edward M. Kennedy, marking the White House hopeful's latest boost from the Democratic political dynasty as he rallies to quash Hillary Rodham Clinton's push to be the first female US president.

The announcement pits two influential Democratic families the Kennedys and the Clintons against each other, and increases pressure on Clinton after Obama's decisive win in the South Carolina primary Saturday.

Closet liberals

In the Republican race, Mitt Romney and John McCain accused each other of being closet liberals Monday, a day before a key contest in Florida. Such a charge bordering on blasphemy among conservative Republicans in the increasingly caustic campaign for that party's presidential nomination.

With split decisions in the Democratic contests so far, Obama won Iowa and South Carolina, Clinton won New Hampshire and Nevada there is increased speculation that the race will extend beyond the February 5 22-state mega-contest known as Super Tuesday. Obama needs to steadily build on his newfound momentum if he is to upstage Clinton and become the first black US president.

Kennedy endorsed Obama on Monday as a "man with extraordinary gifts of leadership and character,'' and a worthy heir to his brother, former President John F. Kennedy, who is still revered among Democrats four decades after his assassination. According to several associates, he became angered with what he viewed as racially divisive comments by former President Bill Clinton.

"I feel change in the air,'' Kennedy said at a crowded rally at American University in Washington.

He was joined by his son, Rep Patrick Kennedy, and introduced by Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the late president, who had already endorsed Obama in a piece for the New York Times.

Great hope

"Today isn't just about politics for me. It's personal,'' Obama, 46, said at the rally. ''I was too young to remember John Kennedy and I was just a child when (his brother) Robert Kennedy ran for president. But in the stories I heard growing up, I saw how my grandparents and mother spoke about them.