Ted Kennedy

Caroline Kennedy will attend a Barack Obama fundraiser in Princeton: Getty Images Photo
Caroline Kennedy is scheduled to attend a private fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in Princeton on Friday, according to Obama's presidential campaign.

Kennedy endorsed Obama for president in the Democratic Primary in the lead-up to New Jersey's Feb. 5 election, A day before the primary, she appeared with the Illinois senator and her uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) at a rally on Obama's behalf in the Meadowlands.

Kennedy is the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy.

Edward M. Kennedy after defeating Jimmy Carter in the New York and Connecticut Democratic presidential primaries in March 1980: Getty Images Photo
DENVER -- Essex County Freeholder Pat Sebold supported Ted Kennedy for the Democratic nomination against Jimmy Carter in 1980 because she didn’t think Carter could beat Ronald Reagan.

She was right.

28 years later, Sebold supported Hillary Clinton. But she doesn’t have the same fears about Barack Obama as she did about Jimmy Carter.

“It’s a new era. One doesn’t have to do with the other. Times change,” she said. “Barack Obama is not going to lose.”

As the Presidential election draws closer and closer, we tend to focus our attention on the daily horse race between the candidates and lose sight of one key question recently raised in the Washington Post: What can our elected officials actually do for us?

As a union leader, I hear that question from my members quite often.  For us, that question becomes even more specific: What can elected officials do to help working families and union members?  With the recent news of Senator Ted Kennedy’s illness, I thought is was worth reminding ourselves of exactly what a passionate and dedicated elected official really can do and why it is so important that we stay engaged in the political arena and work to elect strong and uncompromising advocates of workers’ rights.

More movement in Governor Jon Corzine’s office:  Lilo Stainton, the former Gannett statehouse reporter who has served as Corzine’s press secretary since last June, is leaving for another state post.  She’ll be the Communications Director for the Meadowlands Commission.  Stainton took over for Anthony Coley (now Senator Ted Kennedy’s press secretary) when Coley moved up to Communications Director following the departure (under not-so-great terms) of Ivette Mendez.  When Coley left earlier this year, Corzine (after taking some time to mull his options) hired a reporter who covered him for the Star-Ledger, Deborah Howlett.

Anthony Coley, who served as Jon Corzine’s Communications Director, first in Washington and then in Trenton, is the new Communications Director for U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy

Bob Decheine probably wouldn’t know how to get from Haworth to Hawthorne, but he’s very much in control of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in New Jersey. His power comes from his day job as Chief of Staff to Congressman Steven Rothman, who has emerged as the leader of the state Obama campaign. And Rothman’s lead in a PolitickerNJ.com online poll of which New Jersey Democrat has the most political power today appears to be the result of Obama’s surge as a national candidate.

In case you missed it: Governor Jon Corzine delivered New Jersey to his preferred presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton – something some other major political leaders could not do. Barack Obama had endorsements from the two United States Senators from Massachusetts, Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, but still lost the state to Clinton. And Governor Janet Napolitano could not produce an Obama win in Arizona.

Former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley with state Sen. Loretta WeinbergIt was Bobby Kennedy in 1964 who inspired the young Bill Bradley to get into politics.

He would go through his hall of fame basketball career, but as Bradley writes in his latest book, "The New American Story," Kennedy ‘s leadership in the 1960s planted the seed for Bradley's life of public service following his career with the New York Knicks.

On Monday, the day before Election Day, the late Bobby Kennedy’s memory was alive as both sides - the Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama campaigns - appealed to his legacy with the help of his heirs.

Even as Sen. Ted Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy mounted the stage in the Meadowlands Monday to back up Obama, Bobby Kennedy, Jr., was preparing for a campaign appearance in Passaic on behalf of fellow New Yorker Clinton.

With Sen. Ted Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy in the house at the Meadowlands Arena today, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, state co-chair of the Barack Obama presidential campaign, recalls seeing President John F. Kennedy 48 years ago at Journal Square.