Former President Bill Clinton has visited Pennsylvania roughly a dozen times over the past few weeks, campaigning for Joe Sestak and Democrats down the ballot. Most recently, he appeared with embattled incumbent Paul Kanjorski in the 11th district, offering what was essentially a closing argument on the stump:
Former President Bill Clinton told roughly a thousand Democrats in hard-hit northeast Pennsylvania Tuesday that if they base their vote on anger and toss out their Democratic congressman they will be making a mistake, and pleaded with voters to give President Obama’s policies two more years to work.
“Whenever you make an important decision when you are mad, there is an 80 percent chance you will make the wrong decision,” Clinton said, campaigning for Rep. Paul Kanjorski, the 26-year congressman who is facing a stiff challenge from Republican Lou Barletta in a part of the state where unemployment is over 10 percent.
A new poll out Wednesday morning – a snapshot of the district’s voters one week ago – showed Barletta up 48 to 43 percent, with eight percent of voters undecided.
Why does this line of reasoning fall flat? Kanjorksi is a 26 year incumbent, and Clinton’s pitch amounts to saying, “give him 24 more months, and you’ll finally have the change you need in the 11th district.” Right.
Or, as President Obama said on The Daily Show this week, “Yes we can, but…”
Also: CNN has video of Clinton rally with Sestak warning of a GOP bait and switch.