克林顿力挺奥巴马 称其为中产阶级救星

Bill Clinton will tell struggling Americans nostalgic for his presidency that Barack Obama is still the man to rebuild the middle class, while Mitt Romney would hand ruinous tax cuts to the rich.

In a speech closing the second night of the Democratic convention, the former president will warn voters that Mr Romney would repeat the economic policies that "got us in trouble in the first place".

"President Obama has a plan to rebuild America from the ground up," he said in a campaign video billed by Obama aides as a preview of his remarks. "It only works if there is a strong middle class. That's what happened when I was president. We need to keep going with his plan." Mr Clinton is expected to contrast Mr Obama's priorities of education and training with Mr Romney's pledge to cut income taxes and reverse the regulation of the financial sector since the 2008 crisis.

Mr Obama has worked to repair the damage to their relationship caused by his defeat of the former president's wife, Hillary, in 2008's bitter party primary, by seeking his counsel over rounds of golf.

In June, Mr Clinton appeared to say that income tax cuts introduced by President George W. Bush, which are due to expire at the end of the year, should be extended for all to prevent an economic slump. Mr Obama opposes extending the tax cuts for high earners. Mr Clinton later insisted they were in agreement.

Jeffrey Lord, a historian and former aide to Ronald Reagan, said the only precedent for Mr Clinton's role in recent memory was the speech given by Mr Reagan as a "private citizen" to the 1992 Republican convention, as his successor, George H.W. Bush, struggled to defend his presidency against Mr Clinton.

"It was for exactly the same reason," Mr Lord told the reporters.

"Obama needs Clinton just as Bush needed Reagan. But even Reagan couldn't save Bush – and I'm not sure Clinton can save Obama."

比尔•克林顿将告诉那些怀念他执政时期的困顿中的美国人，贝拉克•奥巴马仍将是重建中产阶级的那个人，而米特•罗姆尼将会对富人而非穷人实行大规模减税。

在民主党大会第二天晚上的闭幕词中，这位前总统将警告选民，罗姆尼会重复“最初让我们陷入麻烦”的经济政策。

克林顿在一段奥巴马竞选视频中说：“奥巴马总统有一个彻底改造美国的计划。只有在美国中产阶级势力壮大时，这一计划才会奏效。我当总统时也是这一情况。我们需要继续按他的计划前进。”奥巴马的助手将在克林顿致辞前发布这一视频。人们期待克林顿会将奥巴马注重教育和培训的政策倾向与罗姆尼减少个税、彻底改变2008年危机以来的经济法规的承诺作比较。

奥巴马自从在2008年党内候选人初选激战中打败前总统克林顿的妻子希拉里之后，一直努力修补由此造成的和克林顿之间的感情嫌隙，比如他们在一起打高尔夫时奥巴马会征求克林顿的意见。

六月份时，克林顿现身说，年底就要到期的小布什总统的降低个税政策应该对所有人延期，以防经济陷入衰退。但奥巴马反对减税政策对高收入者延期。后来克林顿也坚称他们在这方面达成一致。

曾做过里根总统助手的历史学家杰弗里•罗德说，克林顿所扮演的角色在近些年的唯一先例是里根作为“普通公民”在1992年共和党大会上发表的演讲，当时他的继任者老布什总统正和克林顿抗争，努力争取连任。

罗德告诉记者说：“克林顿力挺奥巴马完全是出自同一个原因。”

“奥巴马需要克林顿，就像老布什需要里根一样。但即使是里根也救不了布什，所以我不确定克林顿能否救得了奥巴马。”