Kennedy on Meet The Press: Would Back Kerry Again in '08

Senator Ted Kennedy was on Meet The Press this morning. In the interview Kennedy said, once again, that "if fellow Massachusetts Democrat John Kerry makes another bid for the presidency in 2008, he would again back him." A netcast of Meet The Press is available here.

"If he (Kerry) runs, I'm supporting him," Kennedy, the leading liberal in the U.S. Congress, told NBC's "Meet the Press."

With Kennedy's help, Kerry won the Democratic presidential nomination two years ago, but lost the 2004 White House race to Republican President George W. Bush.

Kerry said last week he was taking a hard look at another run in 2008, and intended to make a decision near the end of the year.

Kerry, who was on ABC's "This Week" today, said, "My decision is not affected by any other candidate's decision. It wasn't in 2002 when I made the decision to run, and it will not be this time."

Kerry said he was now focusing on trying to help fellow Democrats win back control of the Republican-led Congress in the November elections.

Kennedy said he expected Democrats to take back the Senate as well as the House of Representatives on Election Day, primarily because of what he described as an inept White House.

"The overarching issue is the gross incompetence of this administration in every aspect," Kennedy said, citing the Iraq war, troubled Medicare prescription drug program and the administration's response to Hurricane Katrina.