Mike Deak

@MikeDeakMyCJ

Bill Clinton: Hillary Clinton has the experience and knowledge to serve as President.

CRANFORD - With less than week to go before the primary, former President Bill Clinton wants to make sure that New Jersey Democrats go to the polls and give his wife Hillary a burst of momentum before the Democratic convention next month.

Speaking before an enthusiastic crowd of about 300 people at Union County College on Wednesday afternoon, the two-term president made the closing argument for his wife who is spending her time campaigning vigorously in California against Bernie Sanders as she nears the numbers needed for the Democratic nomination for president 16 years after he left the Oval Office.

Clinton's message was simple - Hillary Clinton has the experience and knowledge to serve as President.



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"I've had the job," he said. "I know what I'm talking about."



Unlike another candidate that he did not name, Clinton said his wife doesn't want to build walls, but wants to break down barriers, saying that she believes in inclusion and not division.



"We have to do this together," he said. "We can't exclude people."

The former president said his wife wants to focus on the future, unlike the Republicans who are trying to bring back the past.



"You talk to some people," Clinton said, "and they'll tell you the past wasn't so great."



His wife also has the ability to break the political gridlock in Washington, he said.



"She's a changemaker," he said.



And she also has the stamina to withstand the "relentless personal attacks" that Republicans are launching at her.

"There is nothing there," the former president said.



The Republicans are fixated on the past, he said, adding, "this country is all about the future."



Clinton said the former secretary of state and senator from New York also wants to finish the work of President Obama.

She "wants to finish healthcare reform" by allowing people to buy into government-run Medicare and Medicaid, "the public option," he said.



She also wants to tackle immigration reform and improve the position of women in the workplace by making sure they earn equal pay, Clinton said.



The said his wife wants to reform the cost of college education. She wants to make community colleges tuition-free and she wants to reform student debt.



Clinton said it's "disgraceful" that student loans are the only loans that can not be re-financed.



His wife believes that paying back student loans should not be more than 10 percent of a graduate's income so "you can move out of your parents' house."



Students should also have the opportunity to work off their debt by signing up to work for Americorps, she said

Because this was his second visit to the college - he made a campaign stop on campus in November 2008 - Clinton said "America would run much better if it were run like a community college."

Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6643; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com