By JIM BARON

Rep. Patrick Kennedy endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the increasingly combative Democratic presidential primary Monday, comparing Obama’s inspirational leadership to that of his late uncle, President John F. Kennedy.

“In times such as these,” Kennedy told an audience at American University in Washington DC, “we need, as we had with my uncle, a leader who can galvanize a new generation of citizens to carry our nation forward — to confront our era’s great challenges. In times such as these, we need, as we had with my uncle, a leader who can inspire confidence and faith in our government — a sense that our government can be good again.”
In a telephone interview, Kennedy called Obama “the antidote to what President Bush has done to make people cynical about politics and government, to destroy people’s confidence in the institutions of government.”
By joining his father, Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, and his cousin, Caroline, daughter of the slain president, in endorsing Obama, Kennedy was bucking the Democratic political establishment in Rhode Island, which is solidly lined up behind Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Virtually every other major Democratic figure in the Ocean State — except Sen. Jack Reed, who has remained neutral — has cast his or her lot with the former first lady, now in her second term as senator from New York.
Kennedy saidhe believes that while Clinton is “up to the task” and the nation “would be well-served with Hillary as president,” he believes Obama has more to offer.
“We need more than experience,” he said. “We need that intangible to lift America’s sights, to make people believe in this country again, to make the world believe in this country again.”
This is such an important election, the 1st District congressman said, “that we can’t stand on the sidelines. We have to speak what is in our hearts and say what we believe. And if I were asked who is better to best lead our country, I would say Barack Obama.
The Massachusetts senator told the crowd that, “With Barack Obama, we will turn the page on the old politics of misrepresentation and distortion. With Barack Obama we will close the book on the old politics of race against race, gender against gender, ethnic group against ethnic group, and straight against gay.”
The elder Kennedy also invoked the memory of his late brother, saying, “There was another time, when another young candidate was running for president and challenging America to cross a new frontier. He faced criticism from the preceding Democratic president, who was widely respected in the party,” Kennedy said, referring to Harry S. Truman.
“And John Kennedy replied, ‘The world is changing. The old ways will not do. ... It is time for a new generation of leadership.’
“So it is with Barack Obama," he added.
That was a clear reference to the increasing hostility between Obama and the Clintons, both his opponent and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
“Today isn't just about politics for me. It’s personal,” Obama, 46, said when it came time for him to speak. “I was too young to remember John Kennedy and I was just a child when Robert Kennedy ran for president. But in the stories I heard growing up, I saw how my grandparents and mother spoke about them, and about that period in our nation’s life — as a time of great hope and achievement.”
Patrick Kennedy said in Washington that he was coming forward, “to declare my support for someone who dares to dream — who dares to hope — who dares to challenges us to be a better nation.    
“Much like the era of President Kennedy, we now find ourselves standing on a precipice of crisis.  We face international threats, economic uncertainty, and a widening political and social divide at home.
“As President Kennedy said, ‘Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.’”
— with AP wire reports