Bill Clinton Speaks On 2012, 2016 Elections

Bill Clinton Sounds Off On 2012, 2016

WASHINGTON -- Former President Bill Clinton said he believes President Barack Obama can win re-election if he can persuade voters he steadied a shaky economy.

Clinton told ABC's "Good Morning America" he believes likely Republican nominee Mitt Romney will have a difficult time reconciling positions he's taken during the primary season with what he'll say against Obama in the fall.

"Mr. Romney has a different challenge than I did. Mine was just one long character attack. We never had to change what we were saying from the primary to the general," said the former president.

Clinton sounded off on Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom's recent infamous Etch A Sketch gaffe. "The poor man who got in trouble for the Etch A Sketch remark -- that’s like the saying, ‘There is nothing more damaging in politics than telling the truth,'" he said. “I mean, the truth is, that’s what he’s gotta do.”

Clinton was asked if Obama can argue that Americans are better off than they were four years ago, as he argued in winning re-election in 1996.

He replied that if Obama can't make that case, "it is only because of the financial collapse that occurred in September 2008" before Obama took office.

Clinton said Obama can assert that "we put a floor under the recession and kept is from becoming a depression."

Clinton was also asked if his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will run for president again in 2016, which she has repeatedly denied. "I don't know. It's entirely up to her. I'm glad she's coming home. I miss her. We have fun together. She wants to come home and decompress," said Clinton. "I believe she's being absolutely honest with you when she says she doesn't think she'll go back to politics. If she comes home and we do this foundation stuff for the rest of our lives, I'll be happy. If she changes her mind and decides to run, I'll be happy. But I think that's light years away."

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot