November 7, 2011 1:29 PM

Bill Clinton backs Rick Perry on immigration

By
Lucy Madison
Topics
Campaign 2012

Former President Bill Clinton speaks at the Clinton Foundation's "Decade of Difference" concert on Oct. 15, 2011, in Hollywood, Calif.

(Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)
Despite all the heat Rick Perry has taken for his stance on immigration, at least one politician is willing to go to bat for the Texas governor's record on the issue: Former President Bill Clinton.

Clinton, in an interview with USA Today, praised Perry for passing the so-called Texas DREAM Act, which grants undocumented immigrants in-state college tuition if they have lived in Texas for at least three years and have graduated from high school or obtained a GED certificate.

"It makes my skin crawl when they attack Rick Perry for one of the best things he did," Clinton said. "What would they like? Would they like the kid to stand on a corner and sell dope or something?"

Clinton, who is promoting his upcoming book "Back to Work," which comes out on Tuesday, conceded that he thinks that "most of what [GOP presidential candidates are] debating is crazy," but that Democrats shouldn't make the mistake of writing them off.

"It's always a mistake to underestimate your opponent," Clinton said. "People grow in these campaigns. How many times have you seen somebody get better in the course of an election? And it's also unpredictable what happens."

The former president, who told USA Today he wrote the book in the space of a few months after the 2010 midterm elections, said he thought President Obama was in "pretty good shape" when it comes to his re-election prospects - despite the fact that Republicans are "banking on" him taking a hit for the nation's continued economic woes.

"Well, that's what the Republicans are banking on," he said. "But the American people have a funny way of figuring. If they decide that the unemployment rate is that high because the Congress refused to work with the president and their numbers remain markedly lower than his, he might win anyway. I still think he's in pretty good shape."

Still, Clinton offered some criticism of how Democrats handled the 2010 campaign cycle. In his book, he argues that Democrats failed to articulate a strong message in the lead-up to the elections, and as a consequence were unable to effectively combat the Republican message.

"The Democrats did not counter the national Republican message with one of their own," Clinton writes in "Back to Work." "There was no national advertising campaign to explain and defend what they had done and to compare their agenda for the next two years with the GOP proposals."

He says that he and Vice President Joe Biden came up with a set of "talking points" for Democratic volunteers to present while going door-to-door, but that "We couldn't persuade the decision-makers to" agree on them.

"Vice President Biden... and I tried to get the Democratic National Committee to send out a centralized set of talking points to its large e-mail list so Democratic foot soldiers would at least have some good ammunition for their phone and door-to-door campaigns," Clinton writes. "We couldn't persuade the decision-makers to do so."

In an interview with the New York Times, Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod said "We appreciate his insights and his advocacy."


Add a Comment See all 12 Comments
by jade84116 November 9, 2011 3:46 PM EST
Perry's campaign is over and so too is Romney's campaign and his precious Romneycare.
Reply to this comment
by I-C-Warming November 8, 2011 8:28 PM EST
Fame!
Tough to let go of.
Reply to this comment
by zebra8835 November 8, 2011 12:17 AM EST
What would you expect from the man who signed NAFTA into law. He stated it would create millions of jobs and it has, our jobs that were moved to Mexico!
Reply to this comment
by 1776Liberal November 8, 2011 2:13 AM EST
And it's a kiss of death for Perry ever receiving the Republican nomination.
by NO2IllegalImmigration November 7, 2011 10:56 PM EST
I guess this makes it official; Perry is an Amnesty loving surrender monkey.

Let's keep him in Teehas where he can commune with his job and identity stealing friends.
Reply to this comment
by rwsmith29456 November 7, 2011 9:14 PM EST
Let's clarify one more time that 'immigration' and 'illegal immigration' are two completely different things.
Reply to this comment
by Galactus9 November 7, 2011 9:34 PM EST
From the title of this article, it appears that CBS thinks that illegal immigration is immigration. There is a BIG difference
by gruven13777 November 7, 2011 8:03 PM EST
"What would they like? Would they like the kid to stand on a corner and sell dope or something?"

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Um gee...how about sending the kid and his illegal family back to Mexico. Na, that would be too logical.
Reply to this comment
by Galactus9 November 7, 2011 5:47 PM EST
I think what most people want is for the Federal Government to start enforcing our nation's laws. All illegal aliens should be deported. They should not be standing around street corners selling drugs or going to college on the taxpayer dime. The Federal Government failed to enforce immigration laws in the Clinton administration and Bush administration. We now have over 10 million illegal aliens in this country. When will the Federal Government start enforcing the law?
Reply to this comment
by joelwisch2 November 7, 2011 5:29 PM EST
"It makes my skin crawl when they attack Rick Perry for one of the best things he did," Clinton said. "What would they like? Would they like the kid to stand on a corner and sell dope or something?"
-----------------------------------------------
What WE wanted done, you idiot, was to see the law enforced on your watch, and the illegal aliens detained and deported to his/her country of residence.
Another issue with this regard... who do you represent? The American People or the illegal aliens? WAY past time to decide, but regardless of who you decide for, keep your mitts off the taxpayer money.
Reply to this comment
by tsigili November 7, 2011 1:49 PM EST
Clinton ignores the reason that law was passed in the first place......the federal government has failed to enforce our border, and our immigration laws, for decades.

That created the problem, and until we get that problem under control, it will continue to create problems for America, for decades to come.
Reply to this comment
by nikoskay November 7, 2011 2:02 PM EST
Clinton had established a branch in the IRS to check SS numbers and come down on employers who hire undocumented persons. One of the first things GWB did when took over was to eliminate that branch.
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