HAMMOND | Stumping for presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday, Caroline Kennedy urged Hoosiers to put Obama over the top for the Democratic nomination.

"He has articulated a vision ... now it is for all of us to help him achieve it," she said.

Politically inactive until endorsing Obama in a New York Times opinion piece in January, Kennedy opened Wednesday with memories.

"I wanted to come to Indiana because I remember so well the night my Uncle Bobby won the primary," she said of the 1968 Indiana primary. "One of my favorite pictures of my mother was taken that night."

Many of those packing the Carpenters Union Hall in Hammond easily recalled Caroline Kennedy as the blond, curly-headed tyke on the pony led by her mother, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Kennedy acknowledged the memories and apologized for turning 50, but more seriously pointed toward the ability of her father, President John F. Kennedy, to not only lead but inspire the nation, a trait she strongly believes Obama shares more than any other candidate since her father.

She extolled Obama's commitment to "a world-class education for every child."

Having worked in New York City schools for the last five years, Kennedy said she has seen the disparities.

"No more issue is more important to the future of America," she said.

She credited Obama for his stand against the war in Iraq.

"Senator Obama is the only candidate to have had the judgment to oppose the war from the beginning," she said.

Kennedy appealed to women to believe, as she did, in Obama's understanding of the work-family issues women encounter.

As a woman and mother, Kennedy said Obama was an easy choice for her to make.

"That's important to me, that we have a president who understands the complexities about the working family, who believes working parents shouldn't have to choose between their children or taking care of their sick parents and their jobs," she said.

Kennedy cited Obama's commitment to the universal health care, early childhood programs, child care, paid leave and jobs essential to the well-being of every family.

Recalling her father's slim margin of victory over Richard Nixon, Kennedy urged everyone to get out to vote. One less vote per precinct would have made Nixon president, she said.

Kennedy closed by reminding Hoosiers they again have a chance to change history as they did 40 years ago.

If Obama takes Indiana, she believes the nomination is his this summer, she said.