fter several months of wavering, US Senator Edward M. Kennedy will announce he is throwing his support to Vice President Al Gore for the Democratic nomination, an endorsement the Gore campaign has been assiduously seeking and badly needs.
Democratic sources are reporting that Kennedy, with nudging from the White House, has agreed to announce his decision tomorrow to maximize its impact in New Hampshire, where Gore trails former US Senator Bill Bradley. The New Hampshire primary is Feb. 1.
The announcement will be made Wednesday morning after Gore and Kennedy tour Grover Cleveland Middle School in Dorchester. The two will then travel to Portsmouth, N.H., where they will discuss health care with a group of senior citizens.
Kennedy's decision to endorse Gore now breaks his traditional pattern of waiting until the Democratic convention to endorse the party nominee. Previous exceptions have involved Massachusetts candidates. The convention this year opens in Los Angeles on Aug. 14.
Kennedy, while initially planning to endorse Gore, had been hedging over the past several months as the vice president, once the heavy favorite for the nomination, seemed to be stumbling while Bradley rose in the polls.
But party sources said Kennedy faced intense lobbying from the White House, where top aides reminded him of help the Clinton-Gore administration provided for federal funds for Massachusetts.
''They were all over him,'' one source said. ''They came at him really hard.''
Kennedy in recent weeks sidestepped questions about an endorsement, although most political observers still expected him to declare his support for Gore. The Globe reported last month Kennedy had told an associate last fall he would back Gore.
But last month, Kennedy touched off speculation when, at a meeting with Globe editors and reporters, he praised Bradley and said he would consider supporting the former New Jersey senator in addition to Gore. Kennedy said he would take the Christmas holidays to make up his mind.
''If I'm going to endorse, of course I'm going to consider both candidates,'' Kennedy told the group at the Globe.
Sources familiar with the senator's thinking said he was attracted to Bradley's positions on issues close to his heart -- health care, campaign finance overhaul, and antipoverty initiatives.
''When Bradley started coming through on issues that mean a lot to him, it made Kennedy stop and think,'' said one source.
In addition, with polls showing Bradley running well ahead of Gore in primaries in New England, Kennedy, who is up for re-election this year, saw a political downside in backing Gore.
An independent poll taken just before Christmas found Bradley leading Gore among New Hampshire Democratic voters, 48 to 36 percent. The survey, taken by American Research Group of Manchester, marked the first time that firm's polling showed Bradley with a significant lead.
A poll taken in June by the University of Massachusetts' McCormack Institute picked up the first clear indication of Bradley's strength in New England when it showed him leading the vice president in Massachusetts, previously a strong political base for the Clinton-Gore ticket.
''He was having second thoughts,'' the source said.
A Kennedy endorsement is crucial to Gore's efforts to hold off Bradley's surge. While the senator - and former candidate for the presidency - may not directly sway many votes, an endorsement of Bradley - or even a neutral stance - would have been a major blow to Gore, given Kennedy's close identification with the Clinton administration.
Kennedy's support might also shore up Gore's standing among the party's liberal activists.
