Clinton: Obama Has Earned Reelection

By Jill Lawrence | Wednesday, September 5, 2012 | 6:09 p.m. Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Former president Bill Clinton says Americans should vote for Obama if they want “shared prosperity.”

• Clinton took on the bad-cop role at the Democratic convention with tough remarks about the Republican ticket and the financial crisis left to President Obama by the Bush administration.
• In language more blunt than Obama is likely to use Thursday, Clinton said the GOP argument against Obama amounts to “We left him a total mess, he hasn't finished cleaning it up yet, so fire him and put us back in.”
• The former president made the case that, like him, Obama deserves two terms. He said Obama “put a floor under the crash, he began the long hard road to recovery, and laid the foundation for a modern, more well-balanced economy” that will produce new jobs, new businesses and new wealth.
• People should vote Republican if they want a “you're-on-your-own, winner-take-all society,” Clinton said. He added, “If you want a country of shared prosperity and shared responsibility -- a we're-all-in-this-together society -- you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”

(See Bill Clinton's Speech: Full Text as Prepared)