Obama gains $150 million, Powell’s nod

Mr. McCain opted to take public financing for his general election campaign, which constrains him to the $84 million in taxpayer dollars that the system allows. He and running mate Sarah Palin have been raising money for the Republican National Committee, which said it raised $66 million in September.

It’s not clear how many votes Mr. Powell’s endorsement will bring, and some Republican voters are angry that he made the move.

“That man betrayed me, he betrayed my trust,” said Roger Farina, 41, who was protesting outside an early-voting site in Fayetteville, N.C. “I felt like somebody stabbed me in the heart. I thought he was a smart man, a man of character and judgment.”

The McCain supporter said he once respected Mr. Powell so much that he would have voted for him for president. But now he held a sign saying: “Wrong on WMD, wrong on Obama.”

But the fact that Mr. Obama was campaigning in North Carolina, after having spent time in Virginia this weekend, and plans to play offense for the rest of this campaign in states Mr. Bush won in 2004, doesn’t bode well for Mr. McCain.

A day after a McCain adviser predicted that the Republican would win the vote in “real Virginia” - the parts of the state outside of liberal-leaning Northern Virginia - Mr. Obama said it was wrong to try to divide the country.

“There are no real or fake parts of this country. We are not separated by the pro-America and anti-America parts of this nation,” he said.

Mr. Obama added that he was “beyond honored and deeply humbled to have the support of General Colin Powell.”

Christina Bellantoni reported from Fayetteville, N.C