AP/ October 20, 2012, 12:41 AM

Lauding Obama, Clinton cites "impatient" Americans

Former President Bill Clinton speaks at a campaign event for President Barack Obama, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012, in Parma, Ohio.

Former President Bill Clinton speaks at a campaign event for President Barack Obama, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012, in Parma, Ohio. / AP Photo/Tony Dejak

GREEN BAY, Wis. Former President Bill Clinton said Friday that President Barack Obama is facing a tough re-election race because "impatient" Americans haven't fully recognized an economy on the mend.

Campaigning for Obama in Green Bay, Wis., Clinton urged voters to stay the course as more signs of a recovery sink in. Clinton said voters should judge Obama on the past three years, in which private sector job growth has made up for lost ground.

"This shouldn't be a race," Clinton said. "The only reason it is, is because Americans are impatient on things not made before yesterday and they don't understand why the economy is not totally hunky-dory again."

The former president said Obama's difficulty in his race with Republican challenger Mitt Romney is that "people don't feel it yet" even as the unemployment rate ticks down and the manufacturing sector perks up. Clinton said Obama deserves credit for stabilizing a situation that saw the country hemorrhage jobs well into his first year.

"Gov. Romney acts like from the minute the president took his hand off the Bible he was responsible for every lost job," Clinton said.

Everywhere he goes, Romney argues that the tepid recovery is grounds for a change. The shape of the economy consistently tops lists of voter concerns.

A local police official said 2,200 turned out to hear Clinton at a college fieldhouse. Clinton won Wisconsin in both of his presidential campaigns.

Republicans think they can flip the state, which hasn't gone to them since 1984. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan is on Romney's ticket and has campaigned heavily in the state in the past few months.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
121 Comments Add a Comment
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ongelooflijk-2009 says:
It became obvious to me quite some time ago as regards the Republicans plans for the economy after the recession hit and now with Romney / Ryan. You'd think that the presidents detractors in Congress would have at least given some of his legislative proposals a test run instead of 'preventing most' of them from even making it to the floor, via filibuster.

Hey, why not effect some of these policies and let the results speak for themselves? If they work, good for the Country and, if they're as bad for the economy as 'some' have been saying, they can always be rescinded and the president would have hung himself!

As it turns out, the bulk and most pertinent of the presidents policies were held up and he's getting blamed for the sorry state of the economy..............I think you get the picture. Yes, I do think it's time for a change, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Boehner, Mr. Rubio et al. MOVE, RATHER BEND OVER!!!
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zimbahal replies:
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The Republicans stonewalling on these key pieces of legislation really shows their real intentions for being in Congress--to play politics rather than to improve the lives of people or to build up this nation. McConnell said it -- that his job is to make sure the President fails. What IDIOTS! And what idiots would re-elect these bozos to Congress. Think about the people who don't have jobs, no food, no healthcare, etc. No, they're cozied up in their leather bound offices with their beefy pensions and far removed from the struggles of everyday people.
Nesnej007 replies:
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This is absurd. The Democrats held a super majority for the first 2 years of Obama's term and they could have rammed anything they wanted through,, and they did, including 2 stimulus programs and Obamacare, none of which was desired by the American public. Look at what has happened to the Democrat standing since 2008, you have lost posts in NJ, MA when Ted Kennedy died, WI and VA. It has been a clean sweep every election the Republicans take back control and they have the House, and will hopefully have the White House and Senate after Nov. 6.
And quite honestly, I think John Boehner (is it spelled and pronounced Boner?) needs to go along with Obama and Harry Reid!
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FP1970 says:
Clinton is a celebrity airhead who belongs in Hollywood. His time in the White House would have been a disaster if there had not been a Republican congress in place to block him and his Socialist friends from causing damage.
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zimbahal replies:
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You listening to Fox news and hate radio again. You are living in a bubble. Get out and get some real news! Did you know Murdoch owns Fox? Do you think he's really interested in getting real news out to people?
Nesnej007 replies:
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FP1970
Bubba would be a Godsend right now compared to this guy. Clinton just did and said what he needed to stay in power, this guy is far more scary because he actually believes his BS.
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Yeshuratnam says:
Clinton was impatient which led to the unpopular and unwanted war against Serbia. European History tells us that Muslims massacred Christians in Serbia and the Kosovo region was forcibly occupied by them. Blair advised ground war. But Clinton did what Assad is doing in Syria. Aerial bombing of civilians, bridges, industrial sites completely crippled Serbia. Many children died and even today many civilians are suffering from cancer. If Clinton wanted to stop genocide, why he did not stop genocide in Rwanda? An estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days.
Most of the dead were Tutsis - and most of those who perpetrated the violence were Hutus. American economy began to slide from the days of Clinton. God punished America by using Muslims in 9/11 terrorist attacks. Who can escape the wrath of God?
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4Hanuman replies:
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Bill Clinton is right to say people's memory is short. How come all these Republicans don't want to talk about their now forgotten leader George Bush who left the country in shambles. If Clinton did not involve Nato in Serbia, thousand more innocent people would have been killed, whether it be Christians or Muslims. How conveniently they forget that Iraq war was a backdoor entry into their vast oil reserves emptying the treasury and killing hundreds of thousands in Iraq not to mention thousand of brave American soldiers. What a bunch of hypocrites.
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ongelooflijk-2009 says:
Economists, scientists warn of rising sea level in Florida (cbsnews.com 10-20-12) - "Over 100 scientists and economists signed a letter to both presidential candidates warning about the dangers of rising sea levels in Florida".

Nobody's waging a war on coal Ryan-----It's called 'Global Warming' resulting in climate change world wide and all the countries in the world are going to have to balance economic growth with cleaner technologies if we want to avert disaster! Of course Romney and Ryan don't appear to be too concerned about the issue or seem to understand the meaning of the words 'balance' and 'sustainability' in their approach to energy policy particularly where it intersects with economic growth.
Global Warming is a National Security issue boys and you haven't a clue. Obama has always had a clearer vision and better policy for both the near and long term while these guys want to pull out 'all' the stops and go back to 'business as usual'!
By 2100 10 to 15 million Floridians will have been displaced if levels continue to rise as they are and that's not even the most dire prediction!
Hey, watch the video for yourselves and don't permit yourselves to be dumbed-down by the radical Republican rhetoric!
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Nesnej007 replies:
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The rising tide you see is the wave of contempt that people have for this President and what his agenda is doing to our nation.,
retiredpartsguy replies:
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ongelooflijk-2009 says:
Economists, scientists warn of rising sea level in Florida (cbsnews.com 10-20-12) - "Over 100 scientists and economists signed a letter to both presidential candidates warning about the dangers of rising sea levels in Florida".

Of course it is!! 10,000 years ago it was 125 feet HIGHER than it is today and before that it was 100 feet LOWER than today.
It never stays the same for very long.
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ongelooflijk-2009 says:
So many of you taking digs at Obama are clearly full-of-it particularly where unemployment is concerned.

The entire world experienced an economic crises beginning in 2008 and continues in recession for the most part and I bet you would say that's Obamas fault too!

Of course none of you care to know that as long as 10 years after the beginning of The Great Depression US unemployment was as high as 14% until WWII started and industrial demand kicked in!

I propose that no one elected to the office of President could fair as well or have so great an impact!

And, as with the Great Depression, there is still a long tough road ahead and the President has repeatedly said as much!

His detractors, particularly those who vote in the House and Senate would do better to help govern, as opposed to impeding him----While the middle-class is squeezed, the poor grow poorer and the wealthy sit back on their heels, lining their pockets and protecting their ass-ets!

All the while, Republican's with the Tea Party are trying to sell the American public on the idea that we should already be out of this mess---all the while playing obstructionist politics and doing a good job at it too, based on so much of the vacuous drivel I've read on this board.

Tell me, what of the 3-4 trillion big business is sitting on?

Now that is a real low down dirty shame!
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lapazjim says:
We become impatient because no one has seen any real changes.Obama ran on a ticket of (CHANGE),but his type of changes didn't benefit all.His manipulation of the 2+2=6 for the unemployment figures are untrue.The American people aren't stupid and can figure it out for themselves.The same goes for your polling for who is ahead or not. Allot of people wont tell you who they are voting for and quite a few will change their minds and still more haven't made up their minds.I can not fault a President whether it be Obama,Bush,Clinton or any other for what happens to the economy,employment or any such thing.These are things out of their control and people should realize that.
P.S.:By the way on George Bushes comment "No New Taxes" you have to remember he was forced into those taxes by the Democrats.
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lapazjim says:
We become impatient because no one has seen any real changes.Obama ran on a ticket of (CHANGE),but his type of changes didn't benefit all.His manipulation of the 2+2=6 for the unemployment figures are untrue.The American people aren't stupid and can figure it out for themselves.The same goes for your polling for who is ahead or not. Allot of people wont tell you who they are voting for and quite a few will change their minds and still more haven't made up their minds.I can not fault a President whether it be Obama,Bush,Clinton or any other for what happens to the economy,employment or any such thing.These are things out of their control and people should realize that.
P.S.:By the way on George Bushes comment "No New Taxes" you have to remember he was forced into those taxes by the Democrats.
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Nesnej007 replies:
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Lapazjim,
Don't waste your time or electrons trying to defend what Bush did. Bush was not a true conservative, he was an opportunist, and he would have gone nowhere without Dad's coattails, and his Dad lived off Reagan's glory. Let's look ahead to the election and what Romney must do to win, making some sound and logical assmptions.
1) No state that voted for McCain in 2008 will vote for Obama in 2012 (this gives Romney a starting block of 173 votes)
2) Several states that voted for Obama in 2008 are in Romney's column this time (FLA-29,) (IN-11,) (VA-13,) giving Romney 225 electoral votes
3) (CO-9) is a state where Republicans outnumber Democrats by party registration by over 100,000 and its tradition will revert back to this, giving Romney 234 electoral votes.
4) Romney must win 36 electoral votes from the following pool of battleground states: (PA-20,) (OH-18,) (MI-16,) (WI-10,) (IA-6,) (NV-6,) (NH-4.)
5) Long shot states for Romney would be (MN-10.)
It's already clear Romney wins the popular vote and the momentum going into the last 3 weeks of the cycle favors Romney, but I would have to say his best chances are to take Ohio and put together a string of wins in Wisconson, Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire as insurance policies.
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hypnotoad72 says:
Better idea, since complaining won't get anyone anywhere: What can be done to speed up Main Street recovery?


What are the proverbial ingredients that led to the Main Street collapse?

Where are the obstructionist elements?

Can we analyze the root causes of issues and work on those?
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gekkobear says:
Yes, I'm just too "impatient".

Three years of "recovery" since the recession ended June 2009.

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS12300000

In three years, the Employment-Population ratio has risen from 59.4% of the workforce with a job to... 58.7%. Watch unemployment fall? Why is EMPLOYMENT falling then?

How about wages?

http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p60-243.pdf

Inflation adjusted median income? Down since 2009 when the "recovery" started. (See the chart on page 13)

I'm sorry if I'm too "impatient" with your plans that have lowered employment AND lowered median income over three years after the recession ended. When your plans don't work for three years; you don't need patience, you need plans that work.

Why would I have faith in a plan that has resulted in things getting worse for three years of "recovery"?
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gekkobear replies:
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Well Newster... several things.

One, I'm not your "boy"... and starting off with an insulting phrase isn't helpful.

Two, I'm starting with the numbers AFTER THE RECESSION ENDED. SO in your mind the RECOVERY should lose ground because the RECOVERY can't actually RECOVER anything?

Bull.

Three, we're PULLING DOWN DAMS because of the fish, or whatever. Any large program is blocked by the NIMBY LIBERALS and ENVIRONMENTALISTS on your side... not the labor costs.

Heck we can't get offshore wind farms near Massachusetts because it'll interrupt the liberals' view and we can't have a solar farm in Nevada because of the desert wildlife.

But hey, maybe insult me some more and make some unsupported wild claims about what I must have meant... however expect me to clarify what you got wrong, and point out that I SOURCED MY DATA WITH GOVERNMENT SOURCES.

Why should our RECOVERY AFTER THE RECESSION ENDED not be a recovery? Because... things were bad during the recession, and we can't have a Hoover Dam?

Not buying it, I expect a RECOVERY to show signs of RECOVERY. If you can't manage to understand that, I doubt we'll get any further. I'm expecting a tautology to be an acceptable logical starting point and I'm dismayed that you cannot agree on even that point.
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FishRfryin says:
Old Bill sure was impatient about what to do with a stiffy, wasn't he.
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