Democrats officially nominated Barrack Obama to be their candidate in 2012 with a speech by former President Bill Clinton Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.
NBC News reported that Clinton tried to cast the president as a centrist decision maker whose policies helped avert a worse recession. He said Obama’s done well and that Americans are better off than they were four years ago while still acknowledging there is work to do.
“Are we where we want to be today? No. Is the president satisfied? Of course not,” Clinton said. “But are we better off than we were when he took office?”
Crowd reaction at the DNC said yes.
Clinton, one of the nation’s most popular political figures, officially nominated Obama for the presidency, and an early morning roll call on Thursday ratified that position in a state-by-state roll call. Clinton portrayed Obama in a positive light, saying the president should be elected because of his willingness to work with Republicans as well as his own party, something that was a hallmark of the Clinton presidency.
ABC News reported that after the speech, which Obama watched from back stage, the current president came out and embraced his predecessor, drawing a strong ovation from the convention crowd. It was Obama’s first public appearance at the convention.
But Clinton wasn’t just there to talk up Obama, he also hammered Republican nominee for the presidency Mitt Romney on key points. Among the points was Romney’s budget proposal which has been criticized by many for not making fiscal sense.
“The Romney plan fails the first test of fiscal responsibility; the numbers don’t add up,” Bill Clinton told the DNC crowd.
President Obama is scheduled to speak at the convention tonight.