Carter: Obama Succeeded Despite 'Bitter' Opposition

Earlier, Paul Ryan happily compared the two presidents
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 4, 2012 7:24 PM CDT

Jimmy Carter made the case for President Obama's re-election in the early going of the Democrats' convention tonight, though his appearance came via video and before prime time. "In just four short years, (Obama) has worked to avert economic calamity, brought a dignified end to the ill-conceived war in Iraq, and signed into law historic health care reform—a dream that was already decades overdue when I called for it at this convention 36 years ago," said Carter, as per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "And he has done it all in the face of bitter, unyielding, in fact unprecedented partisan opposition."

So why the low profile? The New York Times notes that Republicans are happy to keep bringing up Carter because they see him as a "weak chief executive" and like portraying Obama as the same. Earlier today, in fact, Paul Ryan used Carter as a foil during a campaign stop in Ohio, reports ABC News. “They fired Carter and they hired Reagan," he said of voters in the 1980 election. "We’re going to do the same thing." Ryan also used the same line against Obama that Ronald Reagan used against Carter, asking whether Americans were better off than four years ago. “President Obama can tell you a lot, and he’s good at doing that, but he cannot tell you that you’re better off," said Ryan. (More Jimmy Carter stories.)

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