Poll: Powell endorsement carries weight

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A poll indicated that a presidential endorsement by former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell would carry a lot of weight with U.S. voters.

The Fox 5/Washington Times/Rasmussen Reports survey released Tuesday said 22 percent of voters would look to Powell's blessings of a candidate before taking the word of U.S. President George Bush or former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

The pollsters saw the support for Powell's opinion as bipartisan with 28 percent of independents listing his endorsement as the best along with 24 percent of Republicans and 16 percent of Democrats.

The retired general and former secretary of state hasn't endorsed a candidate in this year's election.

The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted last week and has a margin for error of 3 percentage points.