Bill Clinton in Bucks: This region is key to race

Standing in a hot and crowded campaign office in lower Bucks County on Tuesday afternoon, Bill Clinton got straight to the point.

"I think you all know how important this county is, and this whole region, to Hillary winning Pennsylvania and winning the White House," he said.

With three weeks until Election Day, the former president became the latest in a parade of candidate surrogates to stump in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Last week, Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka dashed across Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties for four stops in barely 10 hours.

The state was one of 15 cited Tuesday in a new poll of battleground states released by the Washington Post and Survey Monkey. It showed Clinton leading Trump by 46 percent to 40 percent in Pennsylvania.

In his afternoon swing through the region, Bill Clinton stopped to greet volunteers, speak, and pose for photos at campaign offices in Ardmore, Montgomery County, and Bristol, Bucks County. During a speech at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, he explained his role on the campaign trail.

"I just try to tell people why they ought to be for her," he said.

Trump's promise to "make America great again" and return to the position and prosperity that the country held decades ago, Bill Clinton said, is a message aimed at his own "socio-economic group."

"I'm a 70-year-old white guy that was born in Arkansas at the end of World War II," he said. "Now, that's like me saying I'd like to be 20 again. . . . I would like to be 20 again, but I would not vote for anyone who vows to make me 20 again."

Clinton said he believed the country was "on the verge of the greatest period of shared discovery and prosperity," and added that Americans who disagree still must talk to one another.

He called many Americans' frustrations "legitimate and justified" but described the election choice as straightforward.

"Do you want to be able to express your resentment and frustrations," he asked, "or would you rather be in power of changing your future?"

Deborah Kavanaugh, 60, of Collegeville, came to the event wearing pins supporting Hillary Clinton. She said she liked that the former president spent more time talking about his wife's platform than about himself and that his speech was positive.

"People coming out are drawn to his persona, but he kept it about her," said Kavanaugh, a retired postal carrier. "I like the fact that he didn't spend a lot of time bashing Trump."

Olivia Myers, 19, said she attended the speech because her classes at the college had been canceled by Clinton's appearance. She said she did not plan to vote for Clinton and is still deciding between Trump and Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate.

Still, she said, she thought the former president shared good ideas and directed his speech at young people.

"I think Bill Clinton has a lot of personality and I think his likableness is needed for Hillary's whole campaign," Myers said, adding that neither Trump nor Hillary Clinton was a very likable candidate.

lmccrystal@phillynews.com

610-313-8116@LMcCrystal