Three Kennedys and Obama

Obama scores a Kennedy hat trick: The endorsments of Caroline Kennedy, Senator Ted Kennedy and Rhode Island Representative Patrick Kennedy have pundits parsing what it all means for the Illinois senator in the Bay State and beyond.

WBUR political analyst Dan Payne says the Kennedy imprimatur, aside from its powerful symbolic value (in her weekend Times op-ed, Caroline Kennedy passed the torch from her late father to Obama ) gives the Illinois senator maybe a ten point bump in Massachusetts, where a recent poll shows Clinton with a double-digit lead.

The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn says the endorsements may help Obama in states with sizeable Latino voters, whom are trending towards Hillary, but are a constituency among which the Kennedy name carries some weight due to RFK’s support of Cesar Chavez and Senator Edward Kennedy’s work on behalf of liberal immigration reform.

The Kennedy connection is factored into On Point's political prognosticating in today's hour one program that looks forward to Super Tuesday, February 5th, when nearly two dozen states are in play.