Colin Powell Formally Endorses Obama

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday that
he will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama. "He has both style
and substance. I think he is a transformational figure," Powell
said on NBC's Meet the Press.

Powell said he questioned Sen. John McCain's judgment in picking
Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate because he doesn't think she
is ready to be president. He also said he was disappointed with some
of McCain's campaign tactics, such as bringing up Obama's ties to
former 1960s radical Bill Ayers.

"Obama displayed a steadiness. Showed intellectual vigor. He
has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well,"
Powell said.

Following the interview, Powell told reporters outside NBC's
Washington studio: "I think that Senator Obama brings a fresh set
of eyes, fresh set of ideas to the table. I think that Senator
McCain, as gifted as he is, is essentially going to execute the
Republican agenda, the orthodoxy of the Republican agenda with a
new face and he'd be quite good at it, but i think we need more."

Powell's endorsement is significant due to the fact that McCain has
repeatedly singled him out for lavish praise. In a July New York Times
interview, McCain described the former secretary of state and Joint
Chiefs chairman as "a man who I admire as much as any man in the world"
when answering a question in which Powell was not brought up. Meanwhile,
near the same time as that interview, McCain was reportedly considering
Powell as a potential running mate.