Bill Clinton Barnstorms Battlegrounds for President Obama
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Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Bill Clinton has been barnstorming the 2012 battlegrounds for President Obama, holding 13 events in seven states over four days this week alone — ratcheting up what has already been, by most accounts, an unprecedented amount of time on the presidential campaign trail by a former president.
The 42nd president will headline rallies Thursday in Waukesha, Wis., and Perrysburg, Akron and Chillicothe, Ohio. He’s also made stops this week in Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Minnesota and Iowa, drawing crowds of several thousand in each place.
“You just have to decide,” Clinton told supporters in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Wednesday. “Obama’s economic plan is better, his budget plan is better, his education plan is better, his healthcare plan is better, his plan to bring America together is better. That is worth standing up for.”
The Obama campaign believes Clinton’s endorsement and credibility with voters on the economy can help counter widespread dissatisfaction with the country’s current state of affairs and buy the president some more time.
Fifty-four percent of Americans in the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, conducted Oct. 25-28, said they think the country is on the wrong track, compared to 39 percent who said they felt things were on the right track.
“We created 22 million new jobs and turned deficits into surpluses,” Clinton says of his record in the latest TV ad he taped for the Obama campaign. “President Obama’s got it right. We should invest in the middle class, education and innovation, and pay down our debt with spending restraint and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. Sound familiar?”
Clinton’s return to the trial has helped to solidify his image as one of the Democratic Party’s most popular elder statesmen and one with an ability to appeal to independent voters.
It’s also been an opportunity for him to bolster his legacy and the future of the party while doing one of the things he’s known to love: campaign in the spotlight.
Obama and Clinton were to appear Monday together on the campaign trail for the first time, at events in Florida, Ohio and Virginia. But those plans were dashed by Hurricane Sandy.
With five days to go before voters head to the polls, there’s a good chance Obama and Clinton may still try again to unite on the road.
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