Bill Clinton Stumps For Sestak In Close Penn. Senate Race: 'Give This Deal Two More Years'

SCRANTON, Pa. — Former President Bill Clinton characterized Pennsylvania's close and competitive U.S. Senate race on Tuesday as a choice between disastrous Reagan-Bush economic policies and the ability of Democrats to fix the damage they inflicted.

Clinton, perhaps the most valuable Democratic Party name in Pennsylvania, drew several hundred people to a rally for Rep. Joe Sestak. He told them to spread the message that it makes no sense to defeat Sestak because President Barack Obama and Democrats who control Congress haven't pulled the nation out of the worst economic crisis since the Depression.

"You ought to say to people, 'Sestak's the best candidate and give this deal two more years,'" Clinton told the crowd. "We were in a deep hole, a year and a half wasn't enough to dig us out of it."

Without mentioning Sestak's opponent, former Republican Congressman Pat Toomey, Clinton suggested that the alternative to Sestak is a candidate who adheres to trickle-down economic theories that benefit the wealthy but dig a deeper financial hole.

"Don't elect the shovel brigade," Clinton said. "Keep electing the builders."

The Toomey campaign responded with a statement faulting Democrats' handling of the economy.

"When President Clinton teamed up with Republican majorities in Congress, we had a balanced budget," the Toomey statement said. "When President Obama teamed up with Nancy Pelosi and Joe Sestak, we got the largest deficits in American history."

Clinton is on a swing through eastern Pennsylvania to raise money and stump for several Democratic candidates on the Nov. 2 ballot.

With President Barack Obama's approval rating sagging in polls in Pennsylvania, Clinton is perhaps the biggest Democratic Party name in a state his wife handily won in the 2008 presidential primary.

Sestak, a second-term congressman from a Philadelphia suburb, missed the event at the Scranton High School gymnasium because he was in Washington for an emergency session vote on a bill extending recession-related aid to states and public schools.

While in the Navy, Sestak served in the Clinton White House as director for defense policy on the National Security Council. Before the rally, Clinton attended a Sestak fundraiser at a nearby diner.

Comments

[tacevad]

10:19 AM on 08/11/2010

Joe Sestak is not perfect, but in comparison to Toomey there is no question that he is the better choice for Pennsylvania and America

[cruiseheaven]

08:34 AM on 08/11/2010

GO Sestak - It just makes me sick every time I see one of Toomey or Chamber of Commerce commercials - YOU LIE YOU LIE
I just don't get this whole nostalgia thing for GWB

[kimbanyc]

07:39 AM on 08/11/2010

"When President Clinton teamed up with Republican majorities in Congress, we had a balanced budget," the Toomey statement said. "When President Obama teamed up with Nancy Pelosi and Joe Sestak, we got the largest deficits in American history."

Apparently Toomey was either in a coma or counting his money during the 8 years of the criminal Bush's stewardship

[bobell]

08:43 AM on 08/11/2010

yes but the dems took control of congress in 2006 and the recession began in 2007. so everyone can still play the blame game. boring.
the way i see it both parties are to blame for the current mess.

[Truth Wins]

06:30 AM on 08/11/2010

Off topic, but if anyone else feels saddened too by the st.rangling of the H. Post community by it's effort to create a twitter/fakebook "community" while deliberately making it harder to lead meaningful and sometimes fierce discussions here with friend and foe then please fill the HPost Social News Survey and complain.
Moreover, I would like to sign in to HPost through HPost and do not want to wade through 21 other suggestions in order to get to my HPost account!

[maxben]

07:26 AM on 08/11/2010

Where's the survey?
I agree with you 100%

[Truth Wins]

10:24 AM on 08/11/2010

On the right side of the screen just above the "HPost Social News" box. Great if we all participate - there's hope we get some changes for the better!

[JoeJo]

05:56 AM on 08/11/2010

"Clinton suggested that the alternative to Sestak is a candidate who adheres to trickle-down economic theories that benefit the wealthy but dig a deeper financial hole." Doesn't this line seem particularly ironic given what's happened to this country since 2008?

[Op2mystic1]

06:31 AM on 08/11/2010

Some times you have to dig a wee bit deeper to get to the clean soil to clear all the dung out of the hole.

[Julien Henry]

08:17 AM on 08/11/2010

The party of "no" has already told us that less teachers, cops, and firemen would make our lives better.. That's really deep.......

[kimbanyc]

07:48 AM on 08/11/2010

It seems sadly ironic that the extreme right winger Toomey is selling the same foolishness that got us in this hole and most Repubs/TeaBaggers/ buy into it because they h8 the President. Again the fools who follow the GOBP will vote against their own best economic interests to worship at the shrine of social intolerance.

[Anne Johnson]

08:32 AM on 08/11/2010

Well said.

[medialv]

05:43 AM on 08/11/2010

Clinton laughing at funeral then spots the TV camera & starts sobbing. lol

http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/CRASH/BROWN/TEARS/tears.html

Fake, insincere puppet for the rich.

[Philclock]

05:03 AM on 08/11/2010

Easy for Wet Willie to say, with tens of millions of "contributions" in his bank account.

[Mister C]

03:51 AM on 08/11/2010

Obama's poll number are only slipping with angry white people HuffPo keep it real!

[middleoftheroad]

07:43 AM on 08/11/2010

You can't win swing districts without independents (call them angry whites if you want) , and the dems lost them!

[tyger]

11:27 AM on 08/11/2010

OKay I have to ask, if most of the now independents were past republicans why would they vote republicans in. They left because of dissatisfaction with the party. So they left so they could vote the same. Ridiculous.

[Didderbops]

01:31 AM on 08/11/2010

If Sestak is successful in his bid to become senator don't be surprised if he sets his sights on the White House next.

[AthheistInChief]

03:10 AM on 08/11/2010

sestak has the personality and the integrity. The guy is white house material. Go Democrats! Another good find.

[G52]

12:56 AM on 08/11/2010

Sestak is an excellent choice!

[fflambeau]

12:43 AM on 08/11/2010

Good for Bill Clinton to come out fighting for Sestak. Will the Blue Dog Obama?

[Chuck1Rogers]

12:54 AM on 08/11/2010

what are you talking about ? Sestak doesn't want obama to even mention his name..

[G52]

12:58 AM on 08/11/2010

Not so sure Clinton is anymore of a blue dog than Obama but it is about time Sestak got the support he deserves!

[m1jones]

01:11 AM on 08/11/2010

Obama's support in Pennsylvania is a negative for Democratic candidates. Joe Sestak is right in running on his on merits.

[Spiritof84]

11:56 PM on 08/10/2010

Sorry Bill, you will always be considered part of the conservative era that lasted from 1981 until 2009. GOP made many mistakes but we can't ignore the fact that two things that led to the economic turmoil we now face were: 1) NAFTA and 2) Repeal of Glass-Steagal. Both of those were signed by William Jefferson Clinton.

[AthheistInChief]

03:12 AM on 08/11/2010

You can't blame clinton alone for repeal of glass-steagal. It ws the republican revolution of the 90s that did it.

[Spiritof84]

02:01 PM on 08/11/2010

I would never blame just Clinton. In divided government both parties are responsible for both successes and failures. At no time, however, did the GOP have enough members to override a Presidential veto, so Clinton clearly wanted to repeal Glass Steagal.

[AlsoSarah]

11:49 PM on 08/10/2010

Was the diner "Abes"?

[HCMon]

11:39 PM on 08/10/2010

Pat Toomey (and Newt Gingrich) are now claiming that the Republicans were responsible for balancing the budget in the 1990s. Did they forget that the Republicans were yelling from the rooftops at the time that the tax increases inplemented then were going to kill the economy. Instead these tax revenues balanced the budget and the economy grew with robust job growth!!!!

[skyrous]

12:13 AM on 08/11/2010

Neither democrats Nor Republicans had anything to do with the balanced budgets of 10 years ago. Billions of dollars were "invested" in the new thing called the internet overnight tens of thousands of new millionaires appeared and started spending money as fast as they made it on offices and computers as well as houses, cars, $10,000 bottles of champaign, and paid taxes on all these things. and that in turn meant more work for automakers, home builders, and restaurants.

In addition to the federal government every state in the Union ran a surplus in those years even extremely conservative states that instead cut taxes and rejected everything the Clinton administration stood for suddenly found themselves in surplus.

Of course eventually the bubble burst and anyone still invested in internet stocks at the end (small investors mostly) lost most of their money. Look at the DOW and the NASDAQ in those years they were inflated on an unsustainable bubble and everyone was pretending it was real growth and they spent money like it was real growth and they paid taxes on that money. But like every bubble since it wasn't real growth. No amount of fiddling with tax rates is gonna make the stock market jump 300% in 3 years. If you trick enough people to invest a combined 3 trillion dollars with no hope of a return on their investment we could return to those great days of balanced budgets but the economy suck even worse 5 years from now.

[rchwel]

12:19 AM on 08/11/2010

Clinton was the FIRST President to pay down the national debt and left w and the Al Qaida party a surplus !

[HCMon]

12:50 AM on 08/11/2010

Nice try, but get some facts to go with the fairy tail.

Check the attached article - the growth was sustained over the decade, not just the end of decade bubble you describe.
http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/news/052698.html

[Flowerchild2]

11:01 AM on 08/24/2010

President Clinton balanced the budget under Dem majority in 1993, prior to the Republicans taking the majority.

[sense oar sheep]

11:33 PM on 08/10/2010

arlen specter is one of america's problems

[JonBFertippton]

11:51 PM on 08/10/2010

re: sense oar sheep - Specter one of america's problems

Still?