Colin Powell backs Obama

Updated on 19 October 2008

Republican veteran Colin Powell says Barack Obama has got what it takes.

Powell said of Obama: "He has both style and substance. He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president."

The endorsement of George Bush's former secretary of state is a major boost for the Obama campaign.

Powell not only said Obama was made of the right stuff he also said the Republican candidate for vice-president Sarah Palin, was not ready for the job.

He was George Bush's secretary of state, arguing the case for invading Iraq at the United Nations but Colin Powell has decided to put his Republican party loyalties to one side by endorsing Barack Obama as a "transformational figure" who could make an "exceptional president".

Senator Obama's Republican rival John McCain dismissed Mr Powell's switch, saying he believed the momentum was still behind him.