Former Bush Cabinet Member Colin Powell Again Endorses Obama

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has endorsed Democratic President Barack Obama, just as he did before the 2008 election. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

As President Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney are feverishly barnstorming swing states trying to gain support from swing voters, the incumbent picked up a key endorsement early Thursday.

Colin Powell, who was national security adviser and secretary of state to two GOP presidents, endorsed Obama on Oct. 25 during an appearance on “CBS This Morning.” A retired Army four-star general, he also is a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Powell, perhaps the nation’s highest-profile African-American Republican figure for decades, said he has too many questions about how Romney would carry out foreign policy decisions. Powell also is not sold on Romney’s economic plans.

“I am not quite sure which Gov. Romney we would be getting with respect to foreign policy,” Powell said.

“I signed on for a long patrol with President Obama” Powell said, “and I don’t think this is the time to make such a sudden change.”

Powell’s endorsement comes with less than two weeks until Americans go to the polls on Nov. 6. National and swing state polls suggest the election could be one of the closest ever.

An average of several prominent polls calculated by RealClearPolitics.com gives Romney a razor-thin edge, leading Obama 47.7 percent to 47 percent.

The independent political-tracking organization projects a too-close-to-call Electoral College fight, estimating Romney has a 206-201 edge with 131 electoral votes still up for grabs (as of 8:30 a.m. EST on Thursday). One of the candidates will need to secure 270 Electoral College votes to win the White House.

John T. Bennett

John T. Bennett

Bennett is the Editor of Defense News' CongressWatch channel. He has a Masters degree in Global Security Studies from Johns Hopkins University.
John T. Bennett
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