News

Bill Clinton rallies Dems in West Virginia

by Tim Devaney - 10/03/15 10:15 AM ET

Bill Clinton had little to say about his wife’s presidential campaign Friday evening during a dinner for some 2,000 Democratic donors in West Virginia.

Instead, the former president focused his energy on rallying West Virginia Democrats, who have been outnumbered by Republican voters in recent elections.

{mosads}“You voted for me in 1992 and 1996,” Clinton told the crowd at the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner, according to The Washington Post. “You haven’t voted Democratic since. I want to change that.”

West Virginia Democrats lost a Senate and House seat in 2014, but with another Clinton running for the White House, they are hoping for better luck in the upcoming presidential election.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) called Bill Clinton “the best president we’ve ever had” during a passionate speech.

In his only mention of the 2016 Democratic primary, Clinton briefly addressed his wife’s presidential bid.

“Hillary and Sen. [Bernie] Sanders [D-Vt.] laid out their programs, and you can see what the differences are,” Clinton said, quickly turning to the GOP primaries, giving a nod to the likes of Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson.

“The only people in the lead in [the Republican] primary are the people who’ve never been in government, because they’ve spent 35 years telling people to hate government,” Clinton added.

“I felt bad for them. In the first debate, it felt like they were taking a theology test in hatred of government, and Trump blew past them.”

Tags Bill Clinton West Virginia