Pinch-hitting for President Barack Obama, former President
Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden assailed Mitt Romney on Monday,
charging that a new Republican ad aired here is deceptive in suggesting that
Chrysler planned to move its Jeep production to China.
Mr. Clinton told a crowd at Youngstown State University that the claim
was "the biggest load of bull in the world," pointing to a Chrysler Corp.
statement that said that the firm was considering ramping up production in
China but not at the expense of its North American operations.
The vice president echoed Mr. Clinton's indictment of the commercial.
"Ladies and gentleman, they have no shame," he said. "Mitt Romney will say
anything to be elected."
The criticisms were part of a broader assault on the former Massachusetts
governor's position on the auto industry rescue, a pivotal issue in a state
whose improving economy is heavily dependent on auto manufacturing. For more
than a year, the Obama campaign has been reminding Ohio voters that Mr. Romney
wrote a New York Times essay headlined, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."
"In defending the controversial essay," Mr. Clinton said, "[Mr. Romney]
has tied himself up in more knots than a Boy Scout in a knot-tying contest."
As he did in the last debate, Mr. Romney has repeatedly contended that
the headline distorted his plan, saying that he was in favor of a managed
bankruptcy for Chrysler and GM that would not have been substantially
different from the one presided over by the administration.
Mr. Biden joined the Democratic chorus of denunciations of that
explanation by the Republican presidential candidate. He and his allies reject
the notion that the industry could have avoided liquidation without the
government aid provided by the Bush administration, and, on a larger scale, by
Mr. Obama's team. Mr. Romney's article did include a call for a managed
bankruptcy along with federal backing of loan guarantees for the firms. The
administration argues, however, that the Romney proposal was unrealistic and
would in fact have led to liquidation of the auto firms as well as their
suppliers in that the collapse of the credit markets at the time of the
bailout would have made such loans unattainable.
Mr. Biden denounced what he called Mr. Romney's "bizarre claim about the
auto industry," contending that "this guy pirouettes more than a ballerina."
A spokesperson for the GOP campaign stood by the ad.
"It appears the Obama campaign is less concerned with engaging in a
meaningful conversation about his failed policies and more concerned with
arguing against facts about their record they dislike. The American people
will see their desperate arguments for what they are," said Kate Meriwether of
the Romney campaign.
Mr. Clinton and Mr. Biden were the headliners in an event that originally
was to have featured the president. It was one of several campaign appearances
that the president, like Mr. Romney, canceled in deference to Hurricane Sandy.
But the crowd of roughly 4,800, according to the fire marshal's estimate,
didn't show any disappointment as they repeatedly cheered Mr. Clinton's
dissection of Mr. Romney's plans, an assault coupled with an emphatic defense
of the incumbent's record. The half-hour address -- nominally an introduction
of the vice president -- echoed the Charlotte convention speech that earned
him praise for a more persuasive defense of the administration than the
president himself had managed.
Referring to the economic collapse that greeted the new administration in
2009 Mr. Clinton said, "Not a single person who has ever served as president
could have repaired all that damage in four years -- it just couldn't be
done."
Clearly enjoying himself, Mr. Clinton analyzed the spending implications
of the budget plan shepherded by Rep. Paul Ryan, Mr. Romney's running mate,
and of cuts that said would be inevitable to balance a spending plan that
included Mr. Romney's tax cuts.
He said Romney's plan would mean a 33 percent cut in Medicaid over 10
years. He reminded the crowd that the program paid for health care for lower
income citizens as well as nursing-home care that's a crutch to many
middle-class families
Mr. Obama has enjoyed a persistent if slim lead in Ohio, exceeding his
performance in national surveys. But Monday's rally was in a region that's
been a challenge to the president, even in his successful 2008 campaign.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton won the Democratic primary here over
Mr. Obama by the daunting margin of 54 percent to 45 percent. In Mahoning
County, he met an even more severe drubbing as Ms. Clinton defeated him by a
margin of nearly 2-to-1 -- 50,996 to 27,694.
Distributed by MCT Information Services
