ST. CLOUD - With recent polls showing a tightening Presidential race in Minnesota, one of Barack Obama's top campaign surrogates made a stop in St. Cloud on Sunday Night.

Jim Maurice
Jim Maurice
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Former President Bill Clinton energized supporters during a rally at St. Cloud State University.

Clinton's voice was hoarse from a hectic schedule of campaigning.  He spoke at SCSU for about :43 minutes, covering everything from the Affordable Healthcare Act, to the automaker bailout, to the debt and the deficit.

Organizers say the crowd was larger than they expected, and with the Atwood Ballroom filled to capacity, several hundred more had to stand outside and watch the speech on large screens.

Meanwhile, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan earlier on Sunday told an enthusiastic crowd in Minneapolis that it's time to get America back on track.

Sixth District Race:
There was also some attention given to the Sixth District Congressional race between incumbent Republican Michele Bachmann and Democratic challenger Jim Graves.  Graves addressed the audience for just a couple of minutes, and looked back on Clinton's years in the White House.

Graves introduced Clinton, and stood on stage with him throughout his speech.  Clinton thanked Graves for "taking on Michele Bachmann".

Nearly every poll has had Bachmann leading Graves, but the race has been tighter than some of her previous campaigns.

Amendment questions, State Legislature:
U.S. Senator Al Franken warmed-up the crowd first.  He says, while Clinton has been criss crossing the country on Obama's behalf, there's another former President that's been noticeably absent.

While most of the rally focused on the Presidential race, Franken also spoke about Jim Graves in the Sixth District race against Michele Bachmann.  He encouraged the crowd to vote "no" on the two constitutional amendments.  And he also asked the crowd to help elect a DFL majority back to the state legislature.  Franken spoke for about 25 minutes.

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