Bradley has denied the charge, arguing that his proposal would increase the number of Americans with insurance coverage.

Bradley told reporters late Wednesday that Kennedy's endorsement would have no effect on voters. "All I have are the people," he said.

A Bradley campaign spokesperson said the endorsement reflected Gore's support among the Democratic establishment.

"It didn't come much of a surprise," he said.

"We're definitely up against entrenched power," responded Mo Elleithee, Bradley's New Hampshire press officer. Elleithee said he thinks the voters of New Hampshire are too independent to "base their decision on the endorsement game."

But a certain segment of the state's population--particularly the middle-class voters who commute to Massachusetts from southeastern New Hampshire suburbs--may find Kennedy's endorsement an incentive to support Gore, said Constantine J. Spiliotes, dean of the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy at Dartmouth College.

"Increasingly, a lot of New Hampshire residents are transplanted residents from Massachusetts, so it'll have more of an impact than it would have 20 years ago," Spiliotes said.