Former President Bill Clinton made a brief appearance at a rally for Democratic congressional candidate Sean Patrick Maloney Sunday afternoon. Clinton touted Maloney’s qualifications saying that he was competent in both the White House and in state governance.
“Being elected to Congress is a job,” Clinton said. “It requires a preference for evidence over ideology, for arithmetic over illusion, for shared prosperity over trickle down, for we’re-all-in-this-together over you’re-on-your-own.”
Clinton linked incumbent Republican Congresswoman Nan Hayworth’s plan to that of Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan. He argued that if elected, Hayworth would cut deep into important budgetary items, including holding back disaster relief pending other budgetary items which would offset the losses, a point which was particularly resonating given the approach of Hurricane Sandy.
“This is a simple deal,” Clinton said. “Sean Maloney’s got a better jobs plan, he’s got a better budget plan, he’s got a better education plan. He’s got a better plan for the future.”
Maloney framed the election as a decision for Clinton-era policies and touted the former president’s record.
“Bill Clinton showed us what works, and what works is balancing the budget the right way, but we don’t need to go after Medicare and we don’t need to do these mean-spirited attacks on women and Planned Parenthood,” Maloney said.
Among those who turned out were organized labor representatives, many of whom have endorsed Maloney in his congressional campaign. Carlos Kellner explained his experiences working with Maloney to obtain political asylum in the United States and emphasized Maloney’s record on labor issues, his humanitarian work, and his concern for the middle class.
