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ALBANY — Bill Clinton’s presidential efforts 30 years ago when flood waters ravaged southwest Georgia were not forgotten by an adoring Albany crowd that listened to the country’s 42nd president extoll the virtues of the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz ticket during a campaign stop in Albany Sunday.

After attending services at Mt. Zion Church, Clinton spoke for almost 45 minutes before a local crowd at the Harris campaign headquarters on Pine Avenue.

“When I volunteered to help Kamala with her campaign, I asked her folks not to send me to the big places,” Clinton said. “Places like Albany, these are the places I want to be.”

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. and Albany businessman Mark Taylor and District 2 U.S. Congressman Sanford Bishop, who is himself running for re-election, introduced Clinton to the crowd that started gathering a couple of hours before the beginning of the noon event.

“These are historic times in Albany and all across the nation,” Taylor said. “We are honored today to have the 42nd president with us, just as he was back in ’94 when the area was flooded. As president, Bill Clinton took this nation from 7.5% unemployment to full employment when he left. And he left us with the last balanced budget this country has seen. … That’s what Democrats do.”

Bishop, who had been invited to take part in a debate in Macon against Republican challenger Wayne Johnson Sunday, came to Albany instead and encouraged citizens to take others with them to the polls when early voting starts Tuesday.

“We’re living in dangerous times; the course of history will be changed by this election,” Bishop said. “(The country will decide on) good or evil, forward or backward. When I was learning to drive, I was told that if you want to go forward, you put (the gear shift) in ‘D.’ If you want to go backward, you put it in ‘R.’

“Jan. 6 showed you that a wrong outcome on Nov. 5 is a direct threat to our democracy. Failure is not an option.”

Clinton talked about some of the vital issues that have surfaced during the presidential campaign, including the economy, health care, the environment and abortion.

“We set a record for the number of jobs added over an eight-year period during my time in office,” Clinton said. “The Biden-Harris administration will set the record for the number of jobs added over a four-year span in American history.

“Trump keeps saying that there was no inflation when he was president. It’s kind of hard to have inflation when the whole economy has collapsed.”

Clinton said the Trump/J.D. Vance ticket is masterful at “blame, brag and divide.”

“Trump says things that sound good … until you think about it,” the former president said. “For instance, he talks about putting a tariff on goods, telling his people that will make other countries pay for goods. No, all that will do is add 10% to the cost, so that the wealthy can get richer.

“The far right plan of resentment and revenge is never the way to govern. I believe cooperation is much better than constant conflict. I believe Kamala Harris has the ability to be a really fine, effective, transformative president.”

Clinton said Georgia — and Albany — are important to the outcome of the election.

“There are seven swing states that will likely determine the outcome of the election, and, disgustingly, they’re all tighter than a tick,” he said. “So here’s the way it will go: You can show up and help Kamala carry Georgia, and she will win. If you don’t, she probably won’t.

“And I can promise you this: There will be a lot of people who will never forgive themselves if they fail to vote and this thing goes the other way. The far right is counting on you (Democrats) giving up. But you’ve got the numbers. And Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are worth showing up for.”

Staff Photo: Tara FletcherStaff Photo: Tara Fletcher