John Shinkle/POLITICO Bill Clinton plugs Hagan in N.C.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Former President Bill Clinton joined some of the biggest Democratic names in North Carolina to fire up a crowd of supporters here Friday afternoon with a simple message: Get as many people as you can to the polls, or else be prepared for Sen. Kay Hagan’s defeat and a GOP takeover of the Senate.

Clinton — along with former Gov. Jim Hunt, the longest serving governor of the state, and Reps. David Price and G.K. Butterfield — hailed Hagan as the choice for working families, women and minorities. The former president name-checked issues like education, equal pay for women, voting rights, the influx of money in politics and the minimum wage to loud cheers from the crowd of about 1,300 — some dressed in Halloween costumes — at a high school gym in Raleigh.


Calling the race between Hagan and Republican challenger Thom Tillis as the most crucial contest North Carolina has seen in a generation, Democrats warned the crowd with four days left to go that if they didn’t show up — and bring three other people with them, as Hagan challenged — Tillis would go to Washington with a Republican majority and push an “extremist” agenda similar to what Republicans, or the “wrecking crew,” pushed in the state legislature.

( POLITICO's polling center)

“Here we are in the most expensive Senate race in the country, where you are being invited to tell yourselves and to tell the rest of America whether you’re going back to being the state of the future — where we work together and grow together,” Clinton said during his roughly-20-minute-long speech. “Or whether you chose to be a state that goes back to trickle-down economics, where we grow apart and fight like crazy.”

While hitting a litany of issues to excite the Democratic base, Clinton told the crowd not to be fooled by the ads from Tillis and his allies that tie Hagan to President Barack Obama.

“So what is the Republican’s strategy? Well, he doesn’t want talk about the differences they have on the issues, because he knows then you would vote for her and not him,” he said.

Clinton went on to mock Tillis’ record in the state legislature. “It’s pretty hard to say, ‘Vote for me for U.S. Senator I took $500 million away from school teachers.’ … ‘Vote for me for I actually voted to tax college kids meal plan,’” he said.

( POLITICO's 2014 race ratings)

“He’s trying take to her off the ballot and put the president on it,” Clinton continued. “Isn’t that what’s going on? He knows the president’s having a hard time.”

Before working the ropeline for several minutes, the former president closed by comparing himself to a “retired race horse.”

“I can’t believe I’m still doing this,” he said. “I’m like a retired race horse. My life has nothing to do with politics most of the time — and then an election comes up and somebody come to my barn with a little extra hay and they fatten me up, and then they come in and rub my coat down and take me out to the track and schlep me around. … I’m trying to go around this track for Kay Hagan because I believe in her.”

Hagan, who spoke before Clinton, repeated the Democrats’ usual attacks on Tillis based on his record in the state legislature and went on to slam the outside money pouring into the race. She specifically called out the Koch brothers and GOP operative Karl Rove, whose groups have been airing ads against her. For her part, Hagan has also received millions in air cover from the pro-Democratic group Senate Majority PAC.

( Full 2014 election results)

“The eyes of the nation are on North Carolina,” Hagan said. “Together, we are going to show our state, and we’re going to show our nation that grassroots efforts can triumph out-of-state billionaires who are trying to buy this seat.”

“I want you to help me send a message,” she added. “I want it to be loud. I want it to be clear, and I want my opponent and his special interest allies to hear. I want David and Charles Koch and Karl Rove to hear this too: North Carolina is not for sale.”

The crowd repeated after her, “North Carolina is not for sale.”

Total spending on the deadlocked race topped $100 million earlier this week. Two polls out Friday — from CNN and Fox News — showed Hagan up by just 2 and 1 points, respectively.

Hagan also wove in the birth of the Clinton’s first grandchild into her stump speech. “I bet Chelsea and Mark had Carolina on their minds when they named their baby girl Charlotte,” she said. “And if the next one is a boy, how do you think Raleigh sounds?”

The surprise addition to the rally was an appearance by former Gov. Jim Hunt, who served in the role for four, nonconsecutive terms. The crowd erupted the second he walked on stage.

Hunt said he was “happy to come out and shout and holler,” but the gravity of the race has been keeping him up at night as he thinks about what else he can do.

“Now folks, this is going to be a really tight election,” he said lowering his voice. “Don’t you think you’ve got it made. Do you know how much Kennedy won by against that evil Dick Nixon? One vote per precinct. This is not a race that’s going to be decided by a lot of votes.”