Former president hails Franken as a friend, says Obama has earned his bid for president
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Aiming to spur Minnesota Democrats to get out and vote next week, former President Bill Clinton on Thursday night made a case for Barack Obama's election and argued Al Franken will be needed in the Senate to help the next president deliver on his promises.
Speaking to almost 4,000 fired-up supporters at the Minneapolis Convention Center, Clinton said that "unless the wheels fall off," Obama will be elected president Tuesday.
He said Obama has earned it by demonstrating strong decision-making skills in two areas.
First, Clinton said, the Democratic nominee made the right choice in picking Joe Biden as his running mate.
Next, he said, Obama showed leadership in dealing with the national financial crisis. Before he proposed a solution, the Illinois senator "talked to all his economic advisers, and then he talked to all my economic advisers," because he wanted to understand the economic situation better.
Five days before Election Day, Clinton said he wants a president who "wants to understand and can understand" the economy.
Obama passed that test and "will be a good decider-in-chief." He will be a president who can "turn good intentions into real changes in your life," he said.
Clinton called Franken a good friend and great candidate. He said Obama will need his vote in the Senate to change America's course.
Clinton is still a big star to many in the crowd.
"In terms of a president, he was the best thing to happen to this country in my
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lifetime," said Bill Nelson, an engineering technician from Bloomington.
Joan Bulfer, a public health nutritionist from Roseville, said she came to the rally because Clinton is a "historical figure, now. Compared to the last eight years, he was pretty phenomenal."
Polls show Obama with a double-digit lead in Minnesota. He was up by 12 percentage points — 51-39 percent — in the RealClearPolitics.com average of the most recent surveys.
But Franken could use a boost from Clinton. He and Coleman are running about even, with the Republican senator at 37.3 percent and Franken at 35.8 percent, in the RealClearPolitics.com average. Independent Party candidate Dean Barkley was favored by 16 percent.
While the upbeat crowd exuded optimism about winning the election, a parade of Democratic warm-up speakers admonished them not to be overconfident.
"I can feel victory in the air," former Vice President Walter Mondale told the audience before Clinton arrived. "But it is close, and we must fight complacency."
Clinton's appearance here was a sign the bitterness of the long primary contest between Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton has been repaired.
The former president and Obama made their first joint appearance Wednesday night in Kissimmee, Fla., where they heaped praise on each other. Clinton endorsed Obama at the Democratic National Convention two months ago, and he has been making campaign speeches for him since.
But during the primary season, Clinton questioned whether Obama had enough experience for the presidency. "We need somebody ready to do the job on the first day," he said while campaigning for his wife in South Carolina.
He, in turn, was stung by criticism from black leaders who accused him of injecting race into the contest.
"Maybe he's finally forgiven Senator Obama for painting him as a racist in the South Carolina primary," Deb Bartosevich, a former Wisconsin delegate to the Democratic National Convention for Hillary Clinton who now supports John McCain, said before the rally.
Bartosevich came to Minneapolis to appeal to other Hillary Clinton supporters to take a second look at McCain. She said she supports the Republican nominee "because of his character, judgment, his record of working across the aisle and his experience in national security and foreign relations."
Obama is more liberal than Bill Clinton was, she said, but she planned to listen to Clinton's speech because she thought he was a good president.
Speaking to about 4000 people at the Minneapolis Convention Center Thursday night, former U.S. President Bill Clinton gave a speech exhorting audience members to support U.S. Presidential Candidate Barack Obama and Minnesota senatorial candidate Al Franken in the upcoming election on Nov. 4.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (right) speaks at a rally on Oct. 30 in support of Barack Obama, Al Franken (pictured, left) and other Democratic candidates. 
"Barack Obama can lead us in changing the way Americans think about America, the role of government and the way we work together," Clinton said, according to the Associated Press. "We learned the other way is not worth a flip. We've got to work together."

Clinton — whose wife Hillary Clinton ran against Obama for the Democratic nomination earlier this year — has been accused in the past of not fully supporting Obama's presidency. He showed no lack of support for both Obama and Franken with whom he shared the stage. Franken is running against incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and independent candidate Dean Barkley.

According to Clinton, the Minnesota race is crucial. If Franken is elected, Clinton says he will be one more senator to help Obama run the country without major Republican opposition in the Senate. With 60 Democrats in the Senate, Democrats will be able to push legislation through without filibusters by GOP members, which can cause a bill to delay in passing or fail all together.

"Obama has a chance to rewrite the 21st century," Clinton said, according to the ''Star Tribune'', referring to the presidency of George W. Bush. "Let's go back and do it right this time. In order to do that, he's going to have to get some votes. ..." in Congress.

The Minnesota race is close. According to the ''St. Paul Pioneer Press'', Sen. Coleman leads Franken 37.3 percent to 35.8 percent in an average of recent polls. 16 percent supported Barkley.

Before introducing Clinton, Franken thanked him for the support of him and his wife.

"I am privileged to say the Clintons are my friends," Franken said, according to the Star Tribune. "But more important, they are friends of the middle class, of working men and women in this state and this country I'm running to represent."

A Minnesota Public Radio News/University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute poll conducted this week found that 52 percent of likely voters supported Obama, while 41 percent supported GOP candidate John McCain. Clinton — who carried the state by a landslide in 1996 — did not hesitate to ask for more votes, telling the crowd: "I want you to do better than that for Barack Obama."

Clinton was the final speaker in a long list of Minnesota Democrats, including: former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale, the mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, R. T. Rybak and Chris Coleman, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Mayor Coleman is not related to Senator Coleman, who also served as mayor of Saint Paul.

All of the speakers touched on continuing to work toward electing Obama, Franken and other Democrats to Minnesota seats in congress. Even with the 11-point lead Obama holds in the MPR poll, Obama campaign staff circulated the hall at the beginning on the rally and at the end asking attendees to volunteer their time going door-to-door and making phone calls to registered Democrats.

"Barack Obama is going to be the next president of the United States," Mayor Coleman said, according to the Associated Press. "But we've got to work to make it happen."