Democrat Barack Obama reported Sunday raising more than $150 million in September, an unprecedented outpouring of private political donations that further widened his financial advantage over Republican John McCain, who was likening his opponent to European socialists. The September haul boosted Obama's fundraising total to $605 million, a campaign war chest far larger than any seen in US presidential contests. The Illinois senator's September donations alone were nearly double the $84 million McCain had available in federal funding for the final two months before the Nov. 4 election. McCain chose to participate in the public financing system; Obama opted out, leaving him able to raise and spend unlimited money from the public. Former secretary of state and military supremo Colin Powell Sunday endorsed Democrat Barack Obama's White House bid, in a stinging rebuff to Republican candidate John McCain. The former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff expressed disquiet over the rightward shift the Republican Party has taken under McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin – who he said was not ready to be president. Powell, on NBC program “Meet the Press,” said 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.” “I think he would be a transformational president. For that reason I will be voting for Senator Barack Obama,” said Powell, who was the first African-American to occupy the top US military post. Should the mixed-race Obama win on November 4, “all Americans should be proud, not just African-Americans,” he added. “It would not just electrify our country, it would electrify the world.” Meanwhile, McCain, the 72-year-old four-term Arizona senator, has accused Obama of proposing a tax plan that he claims would redistribute wealth – a concept deeply at odds with the fundamentals of American capitalism as promoted by his Republican party, which has sought over recent decades to shrink the size of the national government.
