LEWISTON – Sen. Edward Kennedy and one of Sen. John Kerry’s daughters will speak at Bates College Chapel at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, in support of Kerry’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Kennedy and Kerry are Massachusetts’ senior and junior senators, respectively. So far, Kerry has the most delegates, 244 of the 2,161 needed, according to www.cnn.election/2004/primaries. He won 102 of those delegates Tuesday when he won in Missouri, Arizona, North Dakota, New Mexico and Delaware.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean has 121 delegates, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina has 102 and retired Gen. Wesley Clark has 79, according to that Web site.

The Kennedy-Kerry visit is the second of two events this week sponsored by the Bates Democrats to raise interest in the Maine’s Democratic caucuses, which are Sunday, Feb. 8.

The first event is a candidates forum at Bates College at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 5, in Chase Hall, 56 Campus Ave. Representatives from the presidential campaigns of Clark, Dean, Edwards, Kerry and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio will address the gathering and answer questions.

“The purpose of this event is to raise awareness of the caucuses and to help undecided Democrats choose a candidate that best fits them,” says senior Paul Brunetti, president of the Bates Democrats. “The event is open to the college community, as well as the public.”

Kennedy will be accompanied by Vanessa Kerry, who’s taking time off from her studies at Harvard Medical School to stump for her father. She will speak prior to Kennedy in the chapel event, which is also open to the public at no cost.

For more information, people may contact Brunetti at (207) 795-7473.

In the Democrats’ delegate selection process, Maine, Michigan and Washington are next. The Michigan and Washington caucuses are Saturday.