Former secretary of state Colin Powell endorses Obama

Former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell endorsed President Barack Obama's re-election bid on Thursday, giving him a symbolic boost in the neck-and-neck White House race days ahead of the vote. "I voted for him in 2008 and I plan to stick with him in 2012, and I'll be voting for he and for Vice President Joe Biden next month," the Republican heavyweight told CBS television's "This Morning." Powell traced recent improvements in the economy to Obama, a Democrat, and praised him as a steely commander-in-chief who wound down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that when he was elected four years ago, Obama inherited an economy that was close to a depression, with Wall Street in chaos and the housing sector on the verge of collapse. "I saw over the next several years stabilization come back in the financial community; housing is now starting to pick up after four years, it's starting to pick up. Consumer confidence is rising,"Powell said. "I also saw the president get us out of one war, start to get us out of a second war and did not get us into any new wars. "I think that the actions he has taken with respect to protecting us from terrorism have been very, very solid. And so I think we ought to keep on the track that we are on." Powell, himself once widely touted as a White House prospect, said his party affiliation has not changed -- though he's "a Republican of a more moderate mold," something he said was "a dying breed." Powell, the first African American to occupy the top U.S. military post, also came out publicly during the 2008 campaign in support of Obama, who became the first African American president of the United States. Powell said then he thought Obama would be a "transformational president." Obama had "met the standard" to lead because of his "ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America," he said at the time. Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney are locked in a tight race for the November 6 vote. The president called Powell and thanked him for the endorsement, the White House said Obama campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki played up Powell's credentials on foreign policy and as a leader in general, saying his renewed support of Obama was "certainly an endorsement we welcome and are excited about."