Former Bush press secretary backs Obama

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Scott McClellan, a former White House spokesman who criticized President George W. Bush in a tell-all memoir, said Thursday he plans to vote for Barack Obama.

"From the very beginning I have said I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done and I will be voting for Barack Obama and clapping," McClellan told CNN in an interview.

In his book, "What Happened," McClellan accused Bush and his top aides of a "permanent campaign approach" to governing. He said the Bush administration was more concerned with propagandizing for an invasion of Iraq than with the facts of its case for the invasion.

Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, has picked up support from several prominent Republicans.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday he plans to vote for Obama. Matt Dowd, a former Bush strategist, described Obama last year as the only candidate in the large presidential field of the time that he found appealing, and former Minnesota Republican Gov. Arne Carlson has endorsed Obama over Republican nominee John McCain.