KENNEDY, KERRY HEADING TO WEST COAST FOR OBAMA

The two senators from Massachusetts are heading across the country to campaign for Senator Obama in the run-up to “Super Tuesday” on February 5. The Obama campaign announced yesterday that Senator Kennedy would stump in Albuquerque and Sante Fe, N.M., today, and in Oakland and Los Angeles in California over the weekend. Mr. Kennedy, his son, and his niece, all endorsed Mr. Obama earlier this week, symbolically passing their family’s legacy to the Illinois senator.

President Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, stumped with Mr. Obama yesterday in Denver. The campaign will send Senator Kerry to Washington state on Friday and California on Saturday, where he will appear in San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento. The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee endorsed Mr. Obama earlier this month.

ENDORSEMENT WATCH

Senator Clinton picked up the endorsement yesterday of the senior senator in a February 5 state, Patty Murray of Washington. “Hillary and I both came to Washington together in 1993, and since that time she hasn’t stopped working on the priorities that matter most to America’s families,” Ms. Murray said in a statement. As the Democratic conference secretary, she is the highest ranking woman in the Senate and the 12th senator to endorse Mrs. Clinton.

The top New Jersey supporter of John Edwards is set to endorse Senator Obama today, one day after the former North Carolina senator dropped out of the presidential race.

The state Senate president, Richard Codey, will back Mr. Obama in an afternoon press conference, the Associated Press reported. Mr. Codey has twice served as a caretaker governor of New Jersey, first after James McGreevey resigned and then while the current governor, Jon Corzine, recuperated from serious injuries suffered in a car accident last year. Mr. Corzine has endorsed Senator Clinton.

NADER LAUNCHES WEB SITE TO EXPLORE WHITE HOUSE BID

A consumer activist whose presidential candidacy caused controversy in 2000, Ralph Nader, is taking the first steps toward running for the White House again this year. “John Edwards, the banner of Democratic Party populism, is dropping out, and Dennis Kucinich dropped out earlier, so in terms of voters who are at least interested in having major areas of injustice, deprivations, and solutions discussed in a presidential campaign, they might be interested in my exploratory effort,” Mr. Nader told CNN.

The founder of Public Citizen set up a Web site to discuss a presidential bid and said he would determine within a month whether he could raise $10 million to run a national campaign. He dismissed Senators Clinton and Obama as “both enthralled to the corporate powers.”

Mr. Nader was particularly hard on the Illinois senator. “He’s censoring himself,” the activist said.

REP. SHAYS UNDER FIRE FOR BUSH KISS

Political opponents of Rep. Christopher Shays are calling attention to the unusually friendly greeting the Connecticut Republican gave to President Bush as he arrived to give his State of the Union speech Monday.

Backers of a Democrat challenging Mr. Shays, James Himes, posted a Web video where the Congressman can be seen embracing Mr. Bush and giving him a peck on the cheek. “I wanted him to feel support as he walked into a very partisan chamber,” Mr. Shays said in an e-mail to a hometown newspaper, the Greenwich Time. In 2006, liberal Democrats seeking to oust Senator Lieberman drew attention for a similarly close interaction with the president, which was billed as a kiss, but may have simply been Mr. Bush whispering in Mr. Lieberman’s ear.