Bill Clinton Stumps For Obama In Colorado
DENVER (AP/CBS4) — Former President Bill Clinton stumped for President Barack Obama at two stops in Colorado on Tuesday, as Hurricane Sandy prompted the president to cancel his own event planned.
Clinton derided Republican Mitt Romney as vague and backward in remarks to a small, but enthusiastic, crowd of Democrats at Adams City High School in Commerce City. Clinton also planned to rally Democrats at Denver Manuel High School.
Obama scrapped a planned campaign event in Colorado Springs on Tuesday in order to monitor hurricane recovery efforts from Washington. Clinton filled in.
"You got people taking this seriously?" an incredulous Clinton rhetorically asked an absent Romney on what Clinton called fuzzy plans to erase the national debt. Clinton went on, "Some days I feel like I got lost in a fun house."
Clinton said Obama's plans are superior on education and health care. Clinton also credited the president for the death of Osama bin Laden and for expanding grants for needy college students.
Clinton appeals to the white working class voters of Commerce City, a demographic Obama has had a hard time with.
The former president referenced Hurricane Sandy just once. The crowd instantly hushed when Clinton started his remarks, "Back home in New York we've been having a tough time, as you all know."
After that reference Clinton launched into his stump speech for Obama, talking up the president and repeatedly saying Obama's plans are better and sharper than Romney's.
He told the crowd the president took on a miserable economic situation and put the country back on the road to recovery.
"I always think of Colorado as a place with old-fashioned values and a future orientation. I always think of Colorado as a place that believes in economic development and protecting the environment," Clinton said. "I always think of Colorado as a place full of common sense and creativity. There is one candidate who meets all those criteria."
Clinton concluded by urging Democrats, "Go out and deliver Colorado for President Obama."
The hurricane also prompted Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan to cancel a Colorado trip planned for Tuesday. Obama and Ryan both rescheduled events for Thursday, a day before early voting ends in Colorado.
(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
