Invoking the name of John F. Kennedy has become a campaign tradition among presidential candidates. The 1988 Democratic vice presidential candidate Lloyd Bentsen got the best line of his political career when his Republican opponent Dan Quayle likened himself to the 35th president. The most recent contenders for the Oval Office have borrowed lines from his speeches, and Mitt Romney (R) expressed his stand on Mormonism just 90 miles from where Kennedy articulated his position on being an American citizen first, and a Catholic second.

How powerful, then, is an endorsement from JFK's daughter? After the New York Times ran Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's op-ed piece endorsing Senator Barack Obama, her searches rose 179%—fueled largely by men and women aged 35 on up. Whether she is a kingmaker is yet to be seen, but her words in the political arena did stir searches beyond her East Coast habitat, reaching across two-thirds of the nation.

Word of her advocacy, plus that of her uncle Ted Kennedy (whose own queries popped +248%), did drive buzz for America's political royals, from JFK himself (+53%), to his wife and Caroline's mother Jackie Kennedy (off the charts), and JFK niece Maria Shriver.

As for how this may affect Obama himself, searchers have been working overtime in checking his other endorsements, reviewing his religion, looking for his wife's bio, and reading the top 10 list from his David Letterman appearance. How the anointed successor will fare in the long run remains to be seen. In the meantime, the endorsement may have worked more in reinforcing and reminding others of the Kennedy lore.