Obama joins forces with Kennedy in Giants country

On the eve of the New Jersey presidential primary and with most polls showing his rival trying to maintain a slight lead here, Sen. Barack Obama made a last stop in the Garden State today, telling voters that his message of hope is not one of naivete but of common purpose.

"We don’t feel a sense of urgency for our children," Obama lamented. "We see some child in Newark and say that’s not our problem, that’s somebody’s else’s child. We see a child in rural Alabama and we say that’s somebody else’s child. Well, let me tell you something, they’re all our children."

Joining Obama at the IZOD Arena in East Rutherford were Sen. Ted Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, and tough guy actor Robert DeNiro. Meadowlands staff said the crowd of Obama supporters today ranged between 5,000 and 6,000 people.

"I'm the oldest member of this new generation," said state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, one of the first public officials to get on board the Obama campaign train, and a supporter of Bobby Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign.

Several themes ran throughout the rally, including comparisons of the New York Giants’ improbable Super Bowl victory yesterday with underdog Obama; and inevitable echoes of Camelot as the two Kennedys, who’ve both said Obama’s candidacy represents the prospect of inspirational leadership, sat on stools listening to their presidential candidate stir the crowd.

Kennedy spelled it out in his own address.

"In the next 24 hours, on what we call Super Tuesday, is perhaps one of the most important moments of your life," Sen. Ted Kennedy told the crowd. "The eyes of the nation are going to be on New Jersey and a few other states, to see if the people here in New Jersey recognize that we have a candidate for the presidency of the United States who will inspire a generation."

Obama basked playfully in the Giants’ victory metaphor, particularly with Kennedy on-stage. "For me to be able to bring a Patriots fan to the Meadowlands a day after the Super Bowl, is like bringing the lion and lamb together," said the candidate as the senior senator from Massachusetts buried his head in his hands.

But the Illinois senator grew serious when reflecting on the War in Iraq and its cost on American families and America’s moral standing in the world.

"The war in Iraq was unwise," said Obama. "It distracted us from the war in Afghanistan."

In this quarter alone, President George W. Bush has requested another $70 billion from Congress to fund the war. "The war is costing us $9-$10 billion a month," said the candidate. "Imagine what could be done with $9-$10 billion a month right here in New Jersey?"

Obama promised to end the war and bring the troops home in 2009. He also vowed to end the mind-set of fear and complacency that embroiled America in war.

On the strictly pragmatic political front, the candidate said he would be a more credible Democratic nominee than his rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, because he opposed the war from the beginning, unlike Clinton, who voted in favor of authorizing the war in Iraq in 2002. Republican frontrunner Sen. John McCain could blunt or negate Clinton’s anti-war efforts in a debate by accusing her of flip-flopping. Obama said he could solidly claim that he never supported the war.

DeNiro gave the most terse set of remarks, countering the Clinton campaign’s main argument: that Obama lacks experience. He reeled off a list of what he cited as recent American transgressions, including the war in Iraq, and special interest domination of domestic policy. Regarding Obama’s handful of years at the national level, "That’s the kind of inexperience I can get used to," DeNiro said.

The star of "The Deer Hunter" and "Godfather II" said he had never given a speech at a political event but felt compelled to do so at this time because, "One person inspired me."

Also backing up Obama were Senate President and former Governor Richard Codey, former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, senators Shirley Turner and Weinberg, and Newark Council President Mildred Crump.

"Two months ago, they said the Giants wern't going to be in the Super Bowl, but they won," said Codey. "Two months ago, they said Obama couldn’t win Iowa, but he won, just like the Giants."

It was an animated, impassioned speech for the generally low-key Codey, who used a comical exchange he had with Obama to go into a world peace riff.

"If you’re part Irish, that means we’re brothers," Codey recalled telling Obama. Then to the revved up crowd, "We’re all brothers," Codey shouted, "We’re all sisters. We’re all united!"

Turner got in a dig at former President Bill Clinton, who has been campaigning for his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton. The state Senate President Pro Tempore invoked the Fleetwood Mac hit "Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow," which was Clinton’s 1992 campaign song.

"If you remember that song, it said ‘yesterday’s gone,’" Turner told the cheering crowd. "Vote for Barack Obama, vote for change, vote for the future!"