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JF Kennedy's daughter backs Obama for president

18 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AFP) - US presidential hopeful Barack Obama won a glowing comparison to the late Democratic hero John F. Kennedy Saturday, in an endorsement for his campaign by the revered president's daughter.

"Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves ... and imagine that together we can do great things," Caroline Kennedy wrote in an article in The New York Times titled "A President Like my Father."

"We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama," wrote Kennedy, who was five when her father was shot dead while president in 1963. "We need a change in the leadership of this country -- just as we did in 1960."

Obama has cast himself as the candidate on for change, vowing to shake up what he sees as a faulty political system in Washington.

When elected president John F. Kennedy was, like Obama, a young politician in his forties. He was hailed for his economic programs and for working for the poor and civil rights.

"We have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future," Kennedy wrote.

"Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents' grandchildren, with that sense of possibility."