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Obama fills in for Kennedy at Wesleyan graduation

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS; Staff writer Kimberley A. Martin contributed to this story.

May 26, 2008

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - Filling in for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and tying himself to the family's legacy, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama urged college graduates yesterday to "make us believe again" by dedicating themselves to public service.

"We may disagree as Americans on certain issues and positions, but I believe we can be unified in service to a greater good. I intend to make it a cause of my presidency, and I believe with all my heart that this generation is ready and eager and up to the challenge," Obama told Wesleyan University's Class of 2008.

The Illinois senator peppered his speech with references to the Kennedy legacy: John F. Kennedy urging Americans to ask what they can do for their country, the Peace Corps and Robert F. Kennedy talking about people creating "ripples of hope."

He devoted special attention and praise to Edward M. Kennedy, the longtime Massachusetts senator who had planned to deliver the graduation address but backed out last week after he was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor.

Kennedy has endorsed Obama in the nominating contest against fellow Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and has campaigned for him.

Most of the 25-minute speech urged students to focus on more than "the big house and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should buy."

Only briefly did Obama veer into campaign territory, rattling off a list of education changes he promised to make as president.

He made no mention of Clinton's recent comments connecting her dogged campaign fight to the untimely assassination of Robert F. Kennedy after the June 1968 California primary.

At least one spectator yesterday said the media have made too much of the comment. "I don't think she meant it in a threatening way to Obama," Wesleyan alumna Alana Lopez, 26, of Ozone Park, said of Clinton. "She's just grasping at straws right now. She's desperate."

Staff writer Kimberley A. Martin contributed to this story.