Bill Clinton Campaigns In San Jose For Top Democrats
SAN JOSE (KCBS/AP) -- Former President Bill Clinton on Sunday warned that voter apathy combined with conservative anger and low turnout among young voters could halt economic progress achieved under the Obama administration.
In a 20-minute speech before about 5,000 supporters, Clinton urged the mostly young crowd at San Jose State University to do what they do best: spread the Democratic message on social networking sites if they don't want to cost the party electoral victories in November.
"This is not just California but all over America," a hoarse Clinton said. "Everybody here has access to all the viral networks of social communication. You can change America this night in two weeks."
KCBS' Doug Sovern Reports:
Earlier in the day, at a stop in California wine country Clinton pleaded with the Democratic faithful not to sit out the midterm election, which typically favors the minority party.
The former president shared the stage in San Jose with gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown and lieutenant governor hopeful Gavin Newsom, who both face tight races.
It was Clinton's second event with Brown and Newsom in two days and his 84th campaign stop this election season to drum up support for Democratic candidates in a year where many voters are disgruntled with the economy and high unemployment.
At each stop in California, Clinton has cast the Republicans as a party that wants to give tax breaks to the wealthy, increase college tuition costs and plunge the country into more debt.
"I'm afraid this combination of anger on the right, apathy
among progressives, a healthy dose of amnesia about how we got in the fix we're in, will wind up giving the American people the result they do not want but may think they do," Clinton said.
His visit comes a week before President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Los Angeles next week to lend his support to both Brown and Sen. Barbara Boxer, who faces a tough re-election challenge from former Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive Carly Fiorina. He will be followed five days later by first lady Michelle Obama.
The fact that so many high-profile Democrats are spending time in California in the final weeks leading up to Election Day reflects the voter discontent with Democrats in a state that is typically a stronghold for the party.
California is one of five states with competitive midterm races
-- along with Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Nevada -- where
Obama is scheduled to stop ahead of Election day in a bid to remind the Democratic base of the enthusiasm of the 2008 presidential campaign.
Republicans are hoping to take advantage of the anti-incumbent mood and have brought in their own star power to California.
On Saturday, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin capped off a three-day swing through California by telling about 2,000 supporters in Orange County to exhaust themselves to take California back for the "little guy." Neither of the state's two most prominent Republican candidates this year -- gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman and Fiorina -- appeared with the former vice presidential candidate, citing scheduling conflicts.
Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., campaigned with Fiorina in San Diego where he told a group of military veterans that Boxer was the Senate's most "anti-defense" lawmaker and has sought to undercut the U.S. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The polls show a governor's contest that is virtually tied and in which about a fifth of voters remain undecided. A recent poll released two weeks ago found about half the respondents were dissatisfied with their choice in the California governor's race.
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