Not shockingly, the Kennedys‘ endorsement of Barack Obama got a lot of people talking about what effect the backing of one of the Senate’s most senior Democrats would have on Obama’s campaign.

Will the young senator from Illinois inherit the Kennedy mystique that was the late president’s?

Kennedy is far from the only member of the Democratic establishment who has decided to support Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.

The list is impressive, powerful names like Sens. John Kerry (above), Patrick Leahy and Kent Conrad, former Majority Leader Tom Daschle, California Rep. George Miller and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Interesting that they would turn their backs on Hillary, the wife of one of the party’s most popular figures, and a key player in the party herself.

But The Politico notes how Washington’s liberal establishment has joined together around the view that Former President Bill Clinton is tarnishing his legacy and hurting his wife’s prospects in the process.

The South Carolina rout lends credence to that argument.

The question remains, of course: Will more Democratic power brokers follow suit and risk alienation from someone as powerful as Hillary Clinton by backing an upstart? And will it be enough to help Barack Obama survive a de facto national primary on Super Tuesday?