Bill Clinton and Yvette McGee Brown spoke to a raucous crowd of roughly 700 people this afternoon in the Cuyahoga Community College Metro Campus Gymnasium. The pair spoke as part of a rally for the reelection of Democrat Ted Strickland for governor against Republican John Kasich.

The rally began with comments from politicians and Cleveland celebrities such as State Sen. Shirley Smith, State Justice nominee Mary Jane Trapp, and J.J. Hickson of the Cleveland Cavaliers. It also featured a violin performance from gospel violinist Obed Shelton. When Brown and Clinton individually took the stage, comments focused heavily on the Ohio job market.

“Gov. Strickland has done his best to get the economy going again,” Clinton said. “He’s a got a really good record. But how does it measure up to what we need to do? We need more jobs.”

Clinton then launched into a segment of three critical questions regarding Ohio jobs: Where are the jobs going to come from? Where is the money for jobs going to come from? Who will then fill those jobs?

Clinton said creating jobs would rely on small businesses, manufacturing and clean energy efficiency. To promote such things, he said, Ohio would have to find the proper loans to pay for the intended jobs. Finally, Clinton concluded that filling jobs depended on properly training people to fill them. He said part of the reason people are not being hired is because they lack the proper skills to fill available jobs.

“The answer in Ohio is Ted Strickland,” he said.

Shortly after, the 42nd president closed his speech and exited the stage to shake hands with eager audience members.

The next step in Strickland’s campaign will be the live debate against Kasich tonight.