Former president Bill Clinton lived up to his nickname “Explainer-In-Chief” Friday in Tallahassee. The former president ended his day of Florida campaigning in the state’s capital after engaging a crowd of 3,000 people at Florida State University’s campus.
Clinton did not miss a chance to distinguish the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney from President Obama or to humiliate Romney in the process.
“The difference is historic. A philosophy that says we’re all in this together or one that says you’re on your own,” said the President Clinton. “An economic policy that says we build the country from the bottom up and the middle out, not by trickle down. A policy making process that is based on evidence, not extremist ideology. And a budget based on arithmetic, not illusion.”
The former president then tackled a prominent issue in the election: the economy. He said he supports the president because he has managed well with the economic meltdown he inherited when he was sworn into office. Clinton defended the president’s treatment of the economy by reminding the crowd that there had been steady job growth after the 13 straight months of job loss since President Obama took office.
“Now you tell me who’s got a better economic philosophy. In 33 months, we’ve produced 5.3 million jobs, twice as many as their trickle down theory produced in seven years,” Clinton said. “Barack Obama’s leadership has led America to outperform Europe’s response…President Obama did a good job with a tough hand and we are better off today.”
Clinton continued to list President Obama’s future plans for a prosperous economy. He said the country needs to accelerate job growth in prolific areas. He said President Obama proposes partnership between businesses and government to invest in areas of opportunities like modern infrastructure.
“Not just roads and bridges but fixing our computer downloading speed. In South Korea, they are four times as fast. If we got to their speed with broadband universal access all across American, it can cause a revolution in economic opportunity in small towns and rural areas all across this country.”
Clinton also discussed Pell grants, the Affordable Care Act, and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Cut.
Clinton ended his speech by asking, “If you ask yourself which candidate is more likely to have more people better off, for children to have a better future and is this country coming together instead of it coming apart there is no doubt the answer is Barack Obama and you can make him president again!”
Michelle White, an international affairs student at FSU, said she is motivated for the past few days because she fears planned parenthood would end if Romney is elected.
White said she was very surprised that Romney showed up at the event.
“I would never go to a Romney rally because I don’t care for Romney so I don’t know why anyone would waste their time to go to someone else’s rally if you’re not interested,” said White.
Jamia Felder, a fifth year pharmacy student from Orlando, Fla. at FAMU, said she has already voted for President Obama but Clinton’s speech reinforced her faith in him.
“I’m definitely going to reach out to my friends and family. I already stress the importance of voting because like they say, it’s in our hands,” Felder said. “So, we need to reach out to everybody who has not voted already.”