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Barack Obama waves to the crowd after being introduced and endorsed by former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry during a rally on the College of Charleston campus in Charleston, S.C., Thursday. (AP Photo)

Sounding a call for unity and change, John Kerry endorsed Barack Obama for president Thursday in South Carolina, entrusting the Illinois senator to pick up where he left off and retake the White House for the Democrats.

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, in doing so snubbed former running mate John Edwards, but said he made his decision out of the belief that Obama is the best pick to strengthen the country’s spirit and image abroad.

“He has a superb talent … to communicate the best of our hopes and aspirations for America and the world, and that is why Barack Obama has the greatest potential to lead a transformation, not just a transition,” Kerry told hundreds of supporters at the College of Charleston.

The Massachusetts senator swooped in following Obama’s surprise defeat by rival Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday.

“Who better than Barack Obama to bring new credibility to America’s role in the world and restore our moral authority?” Kerry said, citing Obama’s years living overseas as a sign of his diplomatic sensitivity.

And in what may have been a shot at Clinton’s argument that her years of experience in Washington make her the ideal candidate, Kerry said: “We are electing judgment and character, not years on this earth … (Obama) was after all, right about the war in Iraq from the beginning.”

In his opening, Kerry quoted Martin Luther King, saying “the time is always right to do what is right.”

Obama thanked Kerry for the endorsement and his military service during the Vietnam War, and stuck by the campaign theme of change that has since become a rallying cry on the campaign trail from both parties’ candidates.

“This is a defining moment in our history. Our nation is at war, our planet is in peril, the dream that so many generations fought for feels as if it’s slowly slipping away,” Obama said, promising to make health care available to all and withdraw troops from Iraq. “… We are one people, we are one nation, and together we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea – Yes. We. Can.”

When Kerry announced a year ago he wasn’t making another run for the presidency, he said it was to focus maximum energy on ending the Iraq war. His endorsement of Obama will swiftly be used to challenge arguments from Clinton’s campaign that Obama’s opposition to the war was less fulsome than advertised.

Kerry said Thursday that despite his endorsement there are other candidates in the race he has worked with and respects.

Edwards, who is running third in the Democratic race, released a statement Thursday morning showing no hard feelings toward Kerry’s decision.

“Our country and our Party are stronger because of John’s service, and I respect his decision.  When we were running against each other and on the same ticket, John and I agreed on many issues,” Edwards said. ”I continue to believe that this election is about the future, not the past, and that the country needs a President who will fight aggressively to end the status quo and change the Washington system and to give voice to all of those whose voices are ignored in the corridors of power.” 

The two had their differences during the 2004 campaign over strategy and spending. In post-mortem interviews, Edwards said he would have been more aggressive in challenging the unsubstantiated allegations of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the Vietnam War veterans who questioned Kerry’s military record.

The Obama endorsement developed swiftly after the New Hampshire primary, where Obama came in second to Clinton after winning the Iowa caucuses the week before. Kerry’s endorsement had been sought by all three top Democrats before those contests. Kerry held off but moved to Obama after New Hampshire, seeing that even though Obama lost he attracted more than 20,000 more votes in the primary than Kerry did when he won in 2004.

Kerry would be the highest profile endorsement Obama’s received since talk show host Oprah Winfrey started campaigning with him before the Iowa caucuses. Obama’s camp hopes Kerry’s endorsement gives them a platform to motivate party regulars — his support will likely bring to the table Kerry’s enormous e-mail list of contacts from his 2004 run, which could tap Obama into more contributors.

Kerry was Obama’s political benefactor once before, selecting the relatively unknown Illinois senatorial candidate to deliver the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. It was Obama’s first turn in the national spotlight and helped launch him on a swift ascent that has made him one of two leading contenders for the party’s presidential nomination only four years later.

FOX News’ Major Garrett and Bonney Kapp and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 9:31 am and is filed under Barack Obama, Top Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.