Former President Bill Clinton says the country needs cooperation and not conflict to get back on track.

In an appearance at the Main Street Armory this afternoon, Clinton told the crowd of about 2,000 people why they should vote for either Kathy Hochul or Louise Slaughter, incumbent Democrats facing tough re-election contests for their House seats. He talked up Democratic accomplishments, such as tougher rules for Wall Street, student loan reform, and health-care reform.

And he warned the audience that Republican control in Washington endangers all of those accomplishments.

"Trickle-down economics does not work," Clinton said.

Clinton's speech, which was received with deafening cheers and applause, focused heavily on economic issues. That's not surprising; in her introductory remarks, Slaughter said that during his presidency, Clinton handled the economy "like a maestro plays a Stradivarius."

Clinton fired off a few good one-liners. At one point he said neither Hochul or Slaughter would be facing much of a race if it weren't for the partisan groups spending lots of money against them.

"The real opponent of Kathy Hochul, the real opponent of Louise Slaughter is Karl Rove," he said.