Colin Powell expected to endorse Obama.

Colin Powell is rumoured to be about to endorse Barack Obama.

Powell, a four-star general who worked closely with three Republican presidents, said he would decide between Obama and John McCain, a long-time friend, after watching the presidential debates, the last of which was held on Wednesday.

His endorsement would be the biggest Obama has secured so far. As a prominent member of President George Bush's administration, he may shift some Republican-leaning voters into Obama's camp.

McCain's campaign team admitted privately it would be a blow, not least because it would be another day in which Obama dominated the news. But Democratic strategists are divide about the benefits. One said yesterday he was concerned it could backfire. He suggested that Powell's decision might be seen as being based on racial solidarity and that could alienate some white voters already reluctant to back Obama on grounds of race.

I simply don't buy the argument made here that Powell would be backing Obama simply because of his race, nor do I suspect anyone stupid enough to buy into that logic would ever have voted for Obama anyway.

Powell made clear a long time ago that he would listen to both men and then deliver his verdict.

Powell, 71, who is to appear on NBC's Meet the Press, told a conference in Washington last month that he was undecided. "I've said to my beloved friend and colleague, John McCain, a friend of 25 years - John, I love you - but I'm not just going to vote for you on the basis of our affection and friendship," Powell said.

"I've said to Barack Obama, I admire you, I'll give you all the advice I can, but I won't vote for you just because you're black. We have to move beyond this."

Powell was the most admired member of the Bush administration because of his integrity, an integrity which he blew on his famed visit to the UN to deliver lies on behalf of the Bush administration.

There are many of us who were devastated at what he did, not least because he was that rarest of things: a Republican that one could genuinely admire.

He can never undo the damage that he did but, by endorsing Obama over McCain, he can prove that he is a man who puts country before party.

Obama is so obviously the better choice that Powell is merely stating what we all already know. And I think the Obama team are being hyper sensitive to worry about how this plays from a race angle. It would simply be perverse for Powell to state the opposite of what we all already know.

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Tags: Colin Powell, Obama, McCain, US election 2008, endorsement