Caroline Kennedy backs, stumps for Obama

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HAMMOND, Ind., May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., can inspire the United States just as President John Kennedy did in the 1960s, the former president's daughter, Caroline, said.

Kennedy reiterated her endorsement of Obama's bid to be the Democratic presidential nominee during a campaign appearance in Indiana, where Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., are battling as Tuesday's primary approaches, the Post-Tribune newspaper in Merrillville, Ind., reported Thursday.

"All my life people have told me my father changed their lives," Kennedy told a crowd at Hammond, Ind. "They joined the Peace Corps because he asked them to and they wish they could feel hopeful and inspired again the way that people did when he was president. And I think we finally have that man this year."

She said she wanted to speak on Obama's behalf in Indiana because it was the state that thrust the message of hope and compassion given by uncle, Robert Kennedy, into the national limelight, the Post-Tribune report said.

"I think we're feeling the same kind of spirit in (the Obama) campaign," she said.