Bill Clinton Praises Mitt Romney for his work at Bain Capital

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Bill Clinton praised Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney's business career in an interview on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" on Thursday, calling his record as CEO of Bain Capital "sterling."

"I don't think that we ought to get into the position where we say 'This is bad work. This is good work,'" said the former Democratic President, speaking of Romney's role in the private equity industry. "I think the real issue ought to be, what has Governor Romney advocated in the campaign that he will do as president? What has President Obama done and what does he propose to do? How do these things stack up against each other?"

Clinton's comments about Romney directly undermine Obama’s re-election campaign strategy, which has sought to portray Romney as a rampant capitalist who is out of touch with ordinary American voters, The New York Times' Caucus blog pointed out.

Bill Clinton calls Mitt Romney's business career at Bain capital "sterling" (VIDEO) | GlobalPost

Prominent Democrats keep undermining President Obama’s central attack on Mitt Romney, in an unusually open show of defiance against the party’s presidential nominee.

On Thursday, former President Bill Clinton become the latest and by far the most prominent Democrat to suggest the strategy of criticizing Mr. Romney’s career in private equity is misguided.

Appearing on CNN Mr. Clinton described Mr. Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital, a Boston private equity firm, as “sterling” — a message directly at odds with that of Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign, which has sought to portray the Republican as a rapacious capitalist who is out of touch with ordinary voters.

“I don’t think we ought to get into the position where we say this is bad work; this is good work,” Mr. Clinton said.

“There’s no question that, in terms of getting up, going to the office, and basically performing the essential functions of the office, a man who’s been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold,” Mr. Clinton said.

Mr. Clinton called for the two campaigns to instead focus on their contrasting visions for the country.

Bill Clinton Calls Romney's Business Career 'Sterling' - NYTimes.com