"Sen. Barack Obama rode the winds of his South Carolina victory into the District yesterday, appearing before an overflow crowd of thousands at American University and picking up the coveted endorsement of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

The rally, which drew nearly 7,000 people, marked the first major campaign event in the region leading up to the Feb. 12 primaries in the District, Virginia and Maryland. In the hotly contested race, the Potomac primary could play a key role with 239 Democratic delegates up for grabs.

At the university's Bender Arena, Obama was joined onstage by Kennedy (D-Mass.), his son Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) and his niece Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy.

"Let there be no doubt: We are all committed to seeing a Democratic president in 2008, but I believe there is one candidate who has extraordinary gifts of leadership," Edward Kennedy said in a speech with lofty comparisons of Obama to his brother and pointed responses to criticism of the Illinois senator. "I am proud to stand here today and offer my help, my voice, my energy and my commitment to make Barack Obama the next president of the United States."

Obama told supporters they could help write "the next great American story."

"Someday we can tell our children that this was the time when we healed our nation," he said to applause and screams.

The university said the crowds spilled over to several places on the campus, including a post-rally event outdoors at which Obama and Edward Kennedy made an appearance.

Some professors suspended classes, opting to turn on televisions so students could watch the event, a university spokeswoman said.

Other students simply ditched classes, and workers took the day off and brought their children along. Retirees and others braved the January cold as they lined up waiting for the arena's doors to open. Students began queuing up as early as 5 a.m. for the rally, which started shortly after noon, the school reported.

The crowd inside the arena represented a broad swath of races, ages and religions. Eager 17-year-olds talked about their plans to vote for Obama in the primary -- the law permits it in Maryland and Virginia as long as they are 18 by November. And some in their 60s recalled the inspiration they drew from another Kennedy in their youth.

For decades, candidates have strived for comparisons to John F. Kennedy, but yesterday his relatives bestowed that legacy to the 46-year-old Obama.

Edward Kennedy rebutted some of the criticism of Obama by his main rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and her husband, former president Bill Clinton -- that he lacks the experience to be president and that he has not been consistent in his opposition to the war in Iraq.

"I know he's ready to be president on Day One," Kennedy said, borrowing a description the New York senator often applies to herself.

The endorsement by Kennedy, the Democratic Party's leading liberal, gave a boost to Obama eight days before the Super Tuesday primaries, when 22 states and a U.S. territory will vote. The Clintons had tried hard to persuade Kennedy to remain neutral; the Massachusetts senator called Hillary Clinton on Sunday to tell her of his decision.

At the rally, Kathleen Kilpatrick, 65, a retired bus driver, wrapped her coat a little tighter and said, "I can't remember this much excitement or energy." She has lived in the District for nearly 40 years.

"The main thing is, this is history for us as a people," said Kilpatrick, who, like Obama, is black. "And today, the Kennedys played such a big part in political history."

Doug Kendall, 43, said he pulled his 8-year-old daughter, Miracle, out of Stoddert Elementary School to attend the event. "I wanted to have Miracle be inspired by Obama," he said. "I always wished I had seen President Kennedy. I wanted to give her a chance."

"To have the experience you didn't have," Miracle chimed in.

Howard University students Ashleigh Hairston and Monique Holmes and recent graduate Askale Shiteraw wore matching T-shirts bearing Obama's face and the words "Obama for Your Mama." They posed for photos with strangers impressed by their attire.

"We bought them . . . yesterday," said Hairston, 21, of Seattle. "I said these will be perfect for the rally."

At 11:30 a.m., officials announced that the arena was filled to capacity, prompting moans from the hundreds still standing in the cold. University security guards instructed people to go across the street to a makeshift overflow room at the Mary Graydon Center. About a third of the crowd refused to move, however, hoping officials would reconsider.

Inside Graydon, two small televisions were set up on carts as about 500 people squeezed into the room.

A few families and dozens of students grabbed chicken nuggets and fries from a stand in the corner. A handful of students sat at a table watching a CNN feed of the rally on a computer. Some did homework, reading textbooks or writing in their notebooks.

The overflow room got so crowded that officials directed more people down the quadrangle to the library, where people crowded around five televisions, including one screen that offered no sound.

"Lots of people were skipping class, and most of the government classes were canceled today," said Nicole Bazik, 20, an AU sophomore in Graydon who had rushed over from her child psychology class after her professor ended the day early because so few students were present.

The Secret Service set up another rally site at an outdoor amphitheater, where Kennedy and Obama treated the frozen faithful to a small second rally all their own.

"My daughter is in school in South Carolina, and she just voted for him, so I took a serious look," said Jeanne Fitzpatrick, 57, of the District, who was among those outside. She recently changed the political signs in her yard. "I had been a Hillary supporter until the past few weeks," she said.

Kennedy sympathized with those in the shivering crowd, describing his childhood as the youngest of nine.

"Whenever we had a crowd, I was always put on the outside," Kennedy said. "So, I love you. When we have Barack Obama as president, everyone will be on the inside."" (Nikita Stewart and David Nakamura, The Washington Post, January 29, 2008)

Staff writer Petula Dvorak contributed to this report.