Video: Massive turnout as Obama receives Kennedy endorsement in DC  Barack Obama's campaign appearances have been compared to rock concerts, but the scene outside the press entrance of his most recent stop in Washington was something more akin to a mosh pit.
At one point, at least 100 reporters queued outside a back entrance to an arena at American University where the Illinois senator received the formal endorsement of two generations of the Kennedy family. Thousands of students were waiting out front in a line that stretched across the campus.
Inside, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) appeared with his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, and niece Caroline Kennedy to anoint Obama the choice of the country's longest-running political dynasty.
"I know that he's ready to be president on day-one," said Sen. Kennedy, one of the most senior members of the Senate, whose endorsement was sought by every Democratic campaign. The statement was a clear shot at Hillary Clinton, who has argued that her experience better makes her better prepared for the Oval Office.
It was not the only thinly-veiled salvo launched at the New York Senator and former First Lady's presidential campaign.
"When so many others were silent from the beginning, and simply went along, he opposed the war in Iraq. And let no one deny that truth," Kennedy said, referencing former President Bill Clinton's accusation that Obama's war opposition was a "fairly tale" and Hillary Clinton's Senate vote to authorize President Bush to use force against Saddam Hussein's former regime.
Coming off his huge win in Saturday's South Carolina primary, Obama drew a crowd of journalists and supporters that apparently caught his campaign off guard. Reporters from around the globe -- including Poland, Canada, Australia and England, along with scores of American correspondents -- waited for a chance to document Obama's effect on his zealous young supporters. Ultimately, dozens, including RAW STORY, were turned away when the arena reached capacity.
From a lobby outside the main arena, a handful of supporters and observers listened to piped-in audio of Obama's speech and could hear the forceful cheers from the crowd inside.
"I stand here with a great deal of humility," Obama said. "I know the cherished place the Kennedy family holds in the heart of the American people. ... They stood for the idea that each of us can make a difference and each of us ought to try."
Supporters continued to stream into an outdoor overflow-seating area 10 minutes after Obama had started speaking, and even that was after the event's start time had been delayed by at least half an hour.
Obama reiterated his message of change after extensive praise of Ted Kennedy and his brother, assassinated former President John F. Kennedy. He also invoked Martin Luther King Jr., saying "the dream has never died." He said progress and opportunity rested with his campaign.
"Make no mistake, the choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders; it is not about rich versus poor, or young versus old, and it is certainly not about black versus white," Obama told the crowd. "It is about the past versus the future. it is about looking backwards, or marching forward."
Also on Monday, Obama picked up the endorsement of author Toni Morrison, who once labeled Bill Clinton as the "first black president." Morrison said she has has admired Obama's rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for years because of her knowledge and mastery of politics, but cited Obama's "creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom."
Morrison said her endorsement had little to do with Obama's race — he is the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas — but rather his personal gifts.
Writing with the touch of a poet in a letter to the Illinois senator, Morrison explained why she chose Obama over Clinton for her first public presidential endorsement.
"In addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates," Morrison wrote. "That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it.
(with wire reports)
This video is from CNN.com, broadcast January 28, 2008.
 
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