Bill Clinton's words could haunt Obama today

President Obama's campaign speech on the economy today will be delivered in the same spot where Bill Clinton delivered a 2010 campaign speech Obama might just as soon forget.

In September 2010, Clinton told his Cuyahoga Community College audience in Cleveland that Democrats deserved two more years to fix the nation's economy.

"The Democrats are saying something like this: 'We found a big hole that we did not dig. We didn't get it filled in 21 months, but at least we quit digging,'" Clinton said at the time. "'Give us two more years. If it doesn't work, vote us out.'"

Republicans claim two more years didn't help. As evidence, they cite an unemployment rate still hovering above 8%, slow job growth and an exodus of people leaving the workforce.

Democrats, led by Obama, cite more than 3 million jobs added to the labor force in 20 consecutive months of job growth since Clinton's speech. Until then, the country had lost more than 3.5 million jobs in the 19 months of Obama's presidency.

Obama isn't expected to break much new ground in his speech today. White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that the president would use the opportunity to contrast his economic plan with that of his Republican rival, Mitt Romney.

"The president believes that this election is a fundamental choice between two very different visions for how we grow the economy, create middle-class jobs and pay down our debt," Carney said.

"The other side's plan is a $5 trillion tax cut that explodes the deficit while gutting the investments we need to grow. The president's plan is to pay down our deficit in a balanced way, a way supported by the majority of the American people, while still investing in education, energy, innovation and infrastructure."