Clinton: Who wants a dishonest president?

Former President Bill Clinton branded GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney a serial liar at a Philadelphia campaign event yesterday, criticizing Romney's ad that misleadingly implied Chrysler was shifting Jeep production to China.

Clinton, whose own presidency was marked by a few high-profile bouts of mendacity, notably repeated denials of a sexual liaison with Monica Lewinsky that resulted in his impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives, ridiculed Romney for the ad's misrepresentation. When the crowd laughed in response, Clinton noted, "You're laughing, but who wants a president who will knowingly, repeatedly tell you something he knows is not true?"

"When I was a kid, if I got my hand caught in the cookie jar, where it wasn't supposed to be, I turned red in my face, and I took my hand out of the cookie jar," explained Clinton. "You've got to give it to Governor Romney. When he gets his hand caught in the cookie jar, he just digs down for more cookies."

The former president asked the crowd to "send [Romney] a message ... you don't have to be from Ohio to want your president to tell you the truth when it comes to jobs for the American people."