Former President Bill Clinton speaks Monday during a rally for Dan Onorato, left, Democratic candidate for governor, in Philadelphia. Clinton also spoke Monday on behalf of Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak.

WYNNEWOOD — Former President Bill Clinton told Democratic supporters Monday their party leaders deserve more time to turn the nation's economy around because the Republican leadership before them left such a huge hole.

Clinton acknowledged the economic struggles of millions of Americans as he spoke at a campaign event in suburban Philadelphia for Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak, a former Navy vice admiral who served as a military adviser to Clinton when he was president.

Sestak is in a tight race with Republican candidate Pat Toomey at a time when many believe Democrats are vulnerable nationwide because of voter anger over the economic slumber. The Philadelphia suburbs are often a key swing district in both state and national elections.

Before unloading their ire on Democrats, Clinton said, voters should pin the blame on Republicans in power for the eight years between the time he left office and when President Barack Obama was inaugurated.

"We all know we're in terrible economic trouble," Clinton told about 150 supporters at a Jewish community center in the wealthy suburb of Wynnewood. "It is my opinion that the 20 months the president and Congress have had to dig out of the hole was not enough."

Clinton said Obama's economic stimulus package has created 1.5 million jobs and saved 2 million more.

Clinton's appearance on Sestak's behalf was his second in two months in Pennsylvania. Democrats are hauling out more firepower to try to help Sestak, including a fundraiser Monday night in Philadelphia with Vice President Joe Biden and another next week with Obama.

Sestak retired from the Navy in January 2006 and is now a second-term U.S. House member from suburban Philadelphia.

Republicans, Clinton said, want to repeal the financial stabilization bill and health care legislation and privatize Social Security and Medicare.

Democrats, he said, are voters' best bet for doing things that need to be done to get the economy going — growing jobs, balancing the budget and bringing back manufacturing. He also accused Republicans of using scare tactics to try scaring voters away from Democrats, citing angry conservative commentators on channels like Fox News.

"You practically need Prozac to get a good night's sleep," he said.

Clinton also appeared at a rally on a closed street in west Philadelphia for Democratic candidate for governor Dan Onorato, addressing hundreds of supporters hours before he was to present the Liberty Medal to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.