Colin Powell endorses Obama-Biden ticket

This morning on Meet the Press, former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

On the Obama side, I watched Mr. Obama and I watched him during this seven-week period. And he displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at problems like this and picking a vice president that, I think, is ready to be president on day one. And also, in not just jumping in and changing every day, but showing intellectual vigor. I think that he has a, a definitive way of doing business that would serve us well.

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So, when I look at all of this and I think back to my Army career, we've got two individuals, either one of them could be a good president. But which is the president that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time? And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities--and we have to take that into account--as well as his substance--he has both style and substance--he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world--onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.

But Powell didn't just endorse Barack Obama. He issued scathing remarks about the type of party the Republican Party has become, with its policies of scorch and burn.

This endorsement does a couple of things for Barack Obama. It further diminishes John McCain's boasts that he's the one who will work in a bipartisan manner. And it shores up Barack Obama on foreign policy experience and/or ability to lead the military.

It would have been easy for Colin Powell, a career military man, to have endorsed John McCain. With Colin Powell's endorsement, Barack Obama has more than crossed the experience threshold.

Read the whole transcript for the complete remarks of Secretary Powell.