CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Sen. Hillary Clinton is reminding economically hard-hit voters how much better they had it in the 1990s, but bringing up the past also risks taking them back to the scandals and partisan divides associated with former President Bill Clinton -- memories Sen. Barack Obama has tried to exploit.

The criticism points to an enduring problem within the Clinton campaign. For more than a year, Clinton aides have grappled with how to emphasize the positive aspects of the Clinton presidency while allowing Sen. Clinton to forge her own identity and avoid being a reminder of what people didn't like about the 1990s.

"We recognize we can't rest on the laurels of the 1990s," says Clinton campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee. "But at the same time a lot of people from all demographics have fond memories of what their lives were like in the '90s."

The former first lady recently began citing more statistics about the decade. Her stump speech now paints a detailed portrait of a time when the World Trade Center towers were still standing, more than 22 million jobs were created, the budget was balanced and the average American family's income increased by $7,000.

"Sometimes during this campaign I hear criticism of the 1990s. That's fair. It's an election and we've got to expect to be criticized," Sen. Clinton told an audience last week in Fayetteville, N.C. She continued with a line she has repeated often: "But I always wonder what part of the 1990s they didn't like: the peace or the prosperity?"