WASHINGTON - Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president, calling the Illinois senator a "transformational figure" who has the potential to "electrify" the nation in the White House.
Obama has "displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at problems . . . a definitive way of doing business that I think would serve us well," Powell said on NBC's Meet the Press.
"He is crossing lines - ethnic lines, racial lines, generational lines."
Powell expressed concern John McCain "didn't have a complete grasp" of the nation's faltering economy. And he questioned McCain's decision to choose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.
"I don't think she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president," he said. "That raised some question in my mind as to the judgment Senator McCain made."
Obama, speaking at a campaign rally in North Carolina, said he was "beyond honoured and deeply humbled" by Powell's support.
McCain, meantime, told Fox News he considered the former secretary of state a friend but his decision "doesn't come as a surprise."
He added: "I've always admired and respected Gen. Powell . . . We have a respectful disagreement."
Powell expressed regret that his decision might hurt McCain.
"It isn't easy for me to disappoint Senator McCain in the way that I have this morning."
The former army general praised Obama for his "ability to inspire" and because "he is reaching out all across America" in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.
"It will also not only electrify the country, it will electrify the world," Powell said.
The next U.S. president needs to "talk to people who we have not been willing to talk to before."
Powell, 71, has served under three Republicans - Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.
He was Reagan's national security adviser. Under the first President Bush, Powell was chairman of the joint chiefs of staff during the Gulf War in 1991.
In making his endorsement, Powell delivered a harsh rebuke of the tactics Republicans have recently used against Obama. He criticized McCain's campaign for its "trivial" focus on Obama's past association with 1960s radical William Ayers, who served in two charitable organizations with the Democratic candidate in the 1990s.
He singled out McCain's decision to begin contacting voters with 'robocalls' - automated phone messages - that say Obama "worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers" and would impose an "extreme leftist" agenda if elected.
"What they are trying to connect him to are some kind of terrorist feelings, and I think that's inappropriate," Powell said. "This goes too far."
Replied McCain: "These are legitimate and truthful . . . That robocall is accurate, totally accurate."
Powell was even more disdainful of persistent suggestions Obama is a Muslim.
"The correct answer is, he is not a Muslim. He is a Christian. He has always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is?" Powell said.
"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no . . . Yet I have heard senior member of my own party drop the suggestion he is a Muslim and might be associated with a terrorist. This is not the way we should be doing it in America."
McCain disputed any suggestion he supports smears against Obama. "I have repudiated every statement made by any fringe person in the Republican Party."
Powell's tenure as secretary of state under President George W. Bush was marked by discord with Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. His reputation - at home and abroad - suffered a blow over his role in the Iraq war. Powell made the Bush administration's case for the war at the United Nations in February 2003, using faulty intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons program.
He has since called that speech a "blot" on his record.
While Powell's endorsement may disappoint antiwar Democrats, Obama's campaign hopes it will help with independent voters and moderate Republicans still undecided about who to support in the Nov. 4 election.
"General Powell is not seen as a dividing figure but a uniting figure," said Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, an Obama campaign co-chair. "Gen. Powell is not an ideological figure. He's a pragmatic person."
Obama has held a statistically significant lead in national polls for several weeks, but some show the race tightening somewhat in recent days.
In its daily tracking poll released Sunday, Rasmussen Reports showed Obama with 51 per cent support and McCain with 45 per cent. Gallup's daily tracking poll showed Obama holding a 10-point lead over McCain, 52 per cent to 42 per cent.
"I've been on enough campaigns . . . to sense enthusiasm and momentum, and we've got it," McCain said. "I don't have to look at polls, but the polling numbers have closed dramatically in the last few days."
Powell was the nation's first African-American secretary of state, and the first black to lead the U.S. military.
Addressing the possibility Obama will become the first black president, Powell said: "All Americans should be proud, not just African Americans."
Powell's endorsement nearly overshadowed Obama's other big news on Sunday - that he raised a record $150 million in September.
Obama's campaign, in an e-mail to supporters, said the Democrat had added 632,000 new donors, and the average donation was $86.
The fundraising record has given Obama an enormous financial advantage over McCain - allowing him to spend heavily in traditionally Republican states like West Virginia, where he has recently gained ground on the Republican contender.
Obama opted out of the U.S. federal election financing system. By contrast, McCain accepted federal financing to a maximum of $84 through the post-convention phase of the campaign.
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