Today on the presidential campaign trail

IN THE HEADLINES
Sen. Kennedy, Rep. Kennedy endorsing Obama, expect to campaign for Democrat ... Romney criticizes McCain's legislative history ... Clinton, shifting focus from Obama, says Bush has lost touch with an anxious public ... Author Toni Morrison cites Obama's vision in announcing her support.

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Sen. Kennedy backing Obama for president
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two generations of Kennedys — Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy and his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island — are endorsing fellow Democrat Barack Obama for president.
A spokeswoman for Patrick Kennedy told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that the senator and congressman probably will campaign around the country for Obama, although no concrete plans are set yet.
In a television interview Sunday, Obama would not answer questions about an endorsement from the elder Kennedy. "Any of the Democratic candidates would love to have Ted Kennedy's support. And we have certainly actively sought it," the Illinois senator said.

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Romney says McCain bills favored 'liberal Democrat course'
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Mitt Romney and John McCain accused each other Monday of harboring liberal tendencies, a charge bordering on blasphemy in the increasingly caustic campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
Romney struck first on the day before the winner-take-all Florida primary, criticizing the Arizona senator for his legislation reducing the role of money in politics, for his position on immigration and for his support of an energy bill that he said would have driven up consumer costs.
"If you ask people, 'Look at the three things Senator McCain has done as a senator,' if you want that kind of a liberal Democratic course as president, then you can vote for him," Romney told campaign workers. "But those three pieces of legislation, those aren't conservative, those aren't Republican, those are not the kind of leadership that we need as we go forward."
McCain answered swiftly, accusing the former Massachusetts governor of "wholesale deception of voters. On every one of the issues he has attacked us on, Mitt Romney was for it before he was against it."

The exchange reflected the stakes in Tuesday's contest, a prelude to a virtual nationwide primary on Feb. 5. The polls show McCain and Romney in a state race that is too close to call.

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Clinton: Bush has lost touch with public
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton relegated her chief Democratic rival to the rhetorical sidelines Monday and focused her criticism on President Bush, saying he had lost touch with the concerns of an anxious public.
In a speech to more than 1,000 people jammed in a gymnasium, Clinton did not refer to the fight with Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. Her audience, which included an equal number listening in an adjoining room, roared with approval when the former first lady took note of the Republican president's dwindling time in office.
"Tonight is a red-letter night in American history," she said. "It is the last time George Bush will give the State of the Union. Next year it will be a Democratic president giving it."
Bush is isolated at the White House, Clinton said, inviting the president to join her in meeting the kind of people she has come across during her campaign. "Sit at tables at diners and hear what's on America's mind," she suggested.
The competition between Clinton and Obama has grown increasingly testy heading into next week's enormous round of primaries. But at least on this day, Clinton took on Bush, using the State of the Union address to highlight her differences with the commander in chief.

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Morrison endorses Obama for president
WASHINGTON (AP) — The woman who famously labeled Bill Clinton as the "first black president" is backing Democrat Barack Obama to be the second.
Author Toni Morrison said her endorsement of the Illinois senator has little to do with Obama's race — he is the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas — but rather his personal gifts.
Writing with the touch of a poet in a letter to Obama, Morrison explained why she chose him over Hillary Rodham Clinton for her first public presidential endorsement.
Morrison, whose acclaimed novels usually concentrate on the lives of black women, said she has admired Clinton for years because of her knowledge and mastery of politics, but then dismissed that experience in favor of Obama's vision.
"In addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates," Morrison wrote. "That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it.

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Weather forecast for parts of Florida on Tuesday:
Conditions in Tallahassee: Partly cloudy with a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms late. High 71, low 52.
Conditions in Miami: Mostly sunny. High 75, low 66.

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THE DEMOCRATS

Clinton stops in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Obama holds a rally in the District of Columbia. John Edwards campaigns in Tennessee and Missouri.

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THE REPUBLICANS

Romney, McCain and Rudy Giuliani campaign in Florida. Mike Huckabee has events in Tennessee and Florida.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"In addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates." — Toni Morrison, in a letter endorsing Obama.

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STAT OF THE DAY:

Undeclared voters make up 1,911,510 of those registered in Florida. Registered Democrats number 4,137,067, compared with 3,825,727 registered Republicans and 321,301 people affiliated with minor parties, according to Dec. 31, 2007, figures from the Florida Department of State.