Barack Obama, a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, received an endorsement from a man with some experience on Thursday - one-time Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, successfully garnered his party's nomination for presidential candidate in 2004, but went on to lose the race to incumbent George W. Bush. Kerry's 2004 running mate, former Senator John Edwards, is also seeking the presidency this year. But Kerry announced in South Carolina yesterday that he would endorse Obama instead. To cheers from assembled Obama supporters, Kerry shouted “Barack Obama can be, will be and should be the next president of the United States.” Many say Obama's rise to fame began when he delivered a keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention that confirmed Kerry's presidential candidacy. Kerry said Obama was the Democratic candidate best placed to heal divisions between Republicans and Democrats, though he praised the other Democrats in the race - Edwards and Senator Hillary Clinton (New York). “Each of them could be president tomorrow and each would fight to take this country in the right direction,” Kerry said. “But only Barack Obama can help our country turn the page by uniting and ending the division that we have faced,” he added. Kerry said Obama “has a superb talent” for communicating hope to Americans and the world at large. The Illinois senator, Kerry said, would “lead a transformation, not just a transition.
