Powell endorses Obama for president
WASHINGTON -- Former secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, calling him a "transformational figure." Powell criticized the negative tone of Sen. John McCain's campaign and his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
Powell, speaking on NBC's Meet the Press acknowledged Obama's limited experience on the national stage but said the Illinois Democrat had grown over the past two years and displayed the temperament, judgment and intellect to be president and commander in chief.
Powell, a Republican who was President Bush's first secretary of State, said both Obama and McCain would be good presidents and noted that he had been a close friend of McCain's for 25 years.
"It isn't easy for me to disappoint Sen. McCain in the way that I have this morning, and I regret that," Powell said. "But I firmly believe that at this point in America's history, we need a president that will not just continue, even with a new face and with the changes and with some maverick aspects, who will not just continue basically the policies that we have been following in recent years.
"I think we need a transformational figure. I think we need a president who is a generational change, and that's why I'm supporting Barack Obama, not out of any lack of respect or admiration for Sen. John McCain."
Obama, who called Powell on Sunday to thank him for the endorsement, described Powell at a rally in Fayetteville, N.C., as a "great soldier, a great statesman and a great American."
"I have been honored to have the benefit of his wisdom and counsel from time to time over the last few years, but today, I am beyond honored. I am deeply humbled to have the support of Gen. Colin Powell," Obama told a cheering crowd.
McCain, speaking on Fox News Sunday, said he disagreed with Powell's decision and noted that he has been endorsed by four other former secretaries of State, all veterans of Republican administrations: Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger and Alexander Haig.
"Well, I've always admired and respected Gen. Powell. We're longtime friends. This doesn't come as a surprise," McCain said.
Asked whether Powell's endorsement would undercut his campaign's assertion that Obama is not ready to lead, McCain said, "Well, … we have a respectful disagreement, and I think the American people will pay close attention to our message for the future and keeping America secure."
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican, said Powell's endorsement would strengthen Obama's contention that he is ready to become commander in chief.
"What that just did in one sound bite — and I assume that sound bite will end up in an ad — is it eliminated the experience factor," Gingrich said on ABC's This Week. "How are you going to say the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the former national security adviser, former secretary of State was taken in?"
In other political developments:
• Obama's campaign announced that he had raised a record $150 million in September.
• The two candidates traveled to each other's traditional turf Sunday: McCain in Ohio and Obama in North Carolina and Florida. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Obama's running mate, scheduled a rally in Tacoma, Wash., while Palin planned to campaign in Roswell, N.M.
Responding to Obama's fundraising, McCain complained that the identifies of people who contributed more than $200 million of Obama's total take have not been reported, although that is allowable under federal law because the individual donations fall under the $200 reporting limit.
"It's laying a predicate for the future that can be very dangerous," McCain said on Fox News Sunday. "History shows us where unlimited amounts of money are in political campaigns, it leads to scandal."
McCain's has been limited to spending $84 million for the general election under a program created after the Watergate scandal. Obama opted out of the publicly funded program.
In his remarks Sunday, Powell expressed concern that the Republican candidate appeared unsure of how to deal with economic problems. "Every day, there was a different approach," he said.
Powell, who said he did not plan to campaign for Obama, also said he was disappointed with in the negative tone of McCain's campaign and McCain and Palin's decision to focus in the closing weeks of the contest on Obama's ties to 1960s-era radical Bill Ayers.
In addition, he said, the Arizona senator's choice of Palin raised questions about judgment. "I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States," Powell said.