Ethel and Max Kennedy brought a mix of the old and new of American politics to western South Dakota Friday in support of Barack Obama.

The 80-year-old wife of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the ninth of their 11 children are reaching across generational lines to connect what they call the inspired Democratic politics of the 1960s with the energy of the Obama campaign today

Max Kennedy, 43, spoke to about 100 people at the Journey Museum, telling them that older Democrats say Obama inspires them in ways they haven’t experienced since Robert Kennedy.

“They told me that they loved him (Robert Kennedy). And so I understood that happened. But I never felt anything like that for a politician until I began to see Sen. Barack Obama,” Kennedy said. “And I am so grateful for my generation to have a candidate who inspires us in that way.

“His candidacy has become a movement. And it’s a movement for our generation to unify this nation and come together again.”

Kennedy said that’s already happening in what has been a bruising primary battle between Obama and his Democratic opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Well behind in the delegate count, Clinton marches on toward the conclusion of the primary season in South Dakota and Montana on June 3.

But Kennedy predicted the rough stuff among the Democratic presidential hopefuls will subside as the primary winds down.

“I’m here to tell you, that part of the campaign is over,” he said. “That’s completely over.”

The focus by Kennedy Friday was clearly on the general election, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain and his connection to the troubled presidency of George W. Bush. Kennedy didn’t mention Clinton, clearly steering clear of the past primary conflicts. But he did blast Bush for his indirect criticism of Obama Thursday before the Israeli Knesset. Kennedy also criticized McCain for making the same type of attack on Obama.

McCain criticized Obama’s willingness to negotiate with terrorists or a nation, specifically Iran, that sponsors terrorists. Kennedy said Obama would be ready to negotiate from a position of strength rather than appeasement.

“Talking with the Iranians is a most important and necessary part of our foreign policy,” he said. “When we speak to our enemies we do some from a position of strength. And as long as we do that, we will never have to appease them. And that is Sen. Obama’s position.”

Obama would be tough on terrorism without making the repeating the mistakes that Bush and his supporters, including McCain, made in invading Iraq, Kennedy said.

“He will be the worst enemy that the terrorists have ever had,” Kennedy said of Obama. “And the United States will be, too.”

Ethel Kennedy spoke briefly before heading off to the Pine Ridge Reservation to reconnect with a Native American culture she had visited with her husband 40 years ago. Reservations in South Dakota voted solidly for Kennedy in that election. And Obama is vying with Clinton – whose husband, former president Bill Clinton, is a popular and influential force on South Dakota reservations - for the support of Native Americans in the state.

Native people voted overwhelmingly for Robert Kennedy in the 1968 presidential primary, with support reaching 100 percent in some precincts But Max Kennedy said he wouldn’t be trying any heavy politicking on the reservation.

“I’m going down there to listen, to hear from them what the issues are,” he said.

Black Hills businessman and Democratic stalwart Bill Walsh, a long-time friend of the Kennedy family, and his wife, Jo Roebuck-Pearson, were hosting the Kennedys.

Walsh agreed that the hardball of the Democratic primary was coming to an end, and that the party would eventually come together behind its nominee.

“We’ve got two great candidates,” he said. “I think the campaign has been good for the nation, good for democracy.”

Interesting comments from Max Kennedy. I think his views are shared by many. Obama's image is that he will bring something compassionate, fresh and new. If indeed he gets elected as the next president, let's hope that he will be true to the inspiration he has given to his supporters.