Changes

On 19 October 2008, Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President. Powell said that Obama was a "transformational figure coming into the world stage" <ref>http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/19/colin-powell-endorses-obama/</ref> and expressed disappointment in what he called the "negative tone" of McCain's campaign, as well as in McCain's choice of [[Sarah Palin]] as the Republican vice presidential nominee <ref>https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/19/colin-powell-endorses-barack-obama-for-presiden-1/</ref> saying that she lacked experience even as he was supporting a candidate with one year of experience in the Senate before running for Presidentpresident. Powell went on to criticize other Republicans for what he claims is insistence on their part that Obama is a Muslim stating, "I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the Republican Party say... such things as 'Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim'. Well the correct answer is, 'He's not a Muslim, he's a Christian, he's always been a Christian'. But the really right answer is, 'What if he is?' Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is 'No', that's not America."<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7678788.stm</ref> A month prior, Powell had said that the thought of an African American President was 'electrifying'. In his speech backing Obama, he also said he did not want to see the appointment of Conservative [[Supreme Court]] Justices.<ref>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27265369/</ref> Along with Palin, he's also been critical of other influential people in the Republican Party, such as radio host [[Rush Limbaugh]], who he claims engages in an "ugly" kind of politics, commentator [[Ann Coulter]], Congresswoman [[Michele Bachmann]], who's statement that Obama might hold anti-American views influenced his decision to endorse the [[Illinois]] Senator, those who doubt the authenticity of Obama's birth certificate, and various members of the Bush administration, including former Vice-President [[Dick Cheney]] and former Defense Secretary [[Donald Rumsfeld]], whose conflicts with him, it's believed, caused him to resign his position.