Kerry says Obama's résumé comparable to JFK's, Roosevelt's

To those who say Barack Obama lacks the experience to be president, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry offers up three names: Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy and Teddy Roosevelt.

All were younger than Obama when they were elected, Kerry told a gathering of University of Washington students Friday, as he urged them to support the 46-year-old senator from Illinois.

Obama also is older than Martin Luther King Jr. was when he gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial, and older than Thomas Jefferson when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, Kerry said.

"What you're electing in a president is not years in Washington or years on Earth," he said.

Kerry was rebutting the message of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, 60, Obama's opponent for the Democratic nomination, that she is ready to serve as U.S. president from "Day One."

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, stopped in Seattle and Tacoma to rally Democrats to support Obama in Washington's precinct caucuses Feb. 9.

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who Friday announced his support for Obama, and Rep. Adam Smith, D-Tacoma, also spoke to the roughly 150 students in the auditorium at the student-union building.

"I'm proud we are picking our candidate based on the content of his character and not the color of his skin," Nickels said, quoting King, the slain civil-rights leader. The mayor said he had been sitting on the sidelines until now, hoping that former Vice President Al Gore would run.

In choosing between Clinton, a senator from New York, and Obama, Nickels said, "One candidate I decided would be a good warrior, but I thought the other candidate, Barack Obama, would be a healer."

Kerry, who lost to George Bush in the 2004 presidential campaign, called Obama a transformational president who would take the country in a new direction. He chose not to endorse his former running mate, John Edwards, who dropped his presidential bid this week.

"Barack Obama is in a position to unite the people of America, to bring Democrats, Republicans and independents together, to turn a page of history and present a story of America that reaches well beyond our shores," he said.

While Kerry said his decision "to support Barack is not against something or anyone," he also noted that "this guy has been a legislator longer than Hillary Clinton."

Obama served in the Illinois State Senate before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.

In a 30-minute speech followed by questions from the audience, Kerry spoke at length about Obama's talent for public speaking, a skill Kerry said would rally the public.

Kerry also recounted his own experiences in the civil-rights and environmental movements, and he compared milestones there with this year's election.

"History gives you these very special moments sometimes," Kerry said. "What we do with those moments is up to us."

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958

or schan@seattletimes.com