by Glynn Wilson

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., April 20- Former President Bill Clinton fired up a record turnout of Democrats at the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner Friday night and urged them to "get back in the solution business" by pushing for national health care and new technology jobs in the fight to reverse global warming.

Photo by Glynn Wilson

Bill Clinton urges Democrats to get back in the "solution business" on health care, global warming and affordable education.

While Clinton is seen as the most effective president in modern American history for overseeing the reinvention the Democratic Party and changing how the federal government influences the economy in a positive way, he was more modest himself, saying he wished he could take credit for the longest peace time period of economic prosperity in the country's history.

But he does not deserve all the credit, he said. It goes to the confluence of how information technology changed just about every job in the country before the dot com bubble burst and resulted in a hyper period of increased productivity.

While the economy is still showing signs of growth under president Bush, he said, jobs are not being created because all the money is being spent on war - and the issues of global warming and health care are not being addressed.

"It's crazy," he said. "We are crazy if we keep denying climate change rather than embracing it."

He indicated that a national change in priorities toward solving the global warming problem and the national health care crisis are the keys to getting the economy growing again in a way that would create high paying jobs. Coupled with re-writing the No Child Left Behind Act and making education affordable by giving incentives to women and minorities to study math, science and engineering, the technology jobs in health care and alternative energy could create an unprecedented period of economic growth that lifts all boats, not just the rich, he indicated.

"We've got to deal with the income disparity issue," Clinton said, something that was apparent in the rants of the Virginia Tech student who went on a killing rampage this week, and part of the reason for suicide bombers attacking the West from the Muslim world.

Clinton has long talked about the growing divide between the rich and poor in the U.S., but not as vocally as former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, who is expected to give Hillary Clinton a run for all her money in the Democratic Party nomination race for president in 2008.

The Alabama press corps was not allowed to ask Clinton questions at the event. If I were to ask a question, it would have been whether he truly believes his wife would make the best president at this time.

But he answered it on CNN's "Larry King Live" Thursday night.

He said she would "no doubt" make the best president "for a variety of reasons."

But it remains to be seen whether Ms. Clinton can hang onto the front runner spot throughout the long campaign with other top notch candidates such as Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the race, who may garner a lot of African-American money and support.

Edwards and former Vice President Al Gore are hanging tough in third and fourth in the campaign, which started very early this time due to the fact that Bush can't run again and has no heir apparent on the Republican side of the aisle. Vice President Dick Cheney is seen as too old, sick and unpopular to even consider a run for president.

Guests paid $150 per person and $5,000 for a table for 10 at the dinner, which organizers said drew record numbers due to Clinton's post-presidential popularity.

Democratic Party spokesman Zac McCrary said the party should raise about $350,000 after expenses, an amount which would help fund the party's planned spending through the 2008 presidential election cycle.

Sen. Hillary Clinton did not come along on the trip. She remained in New York speaking to the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network convention. Clinton did not campaign directly for her in his presentation, although he dropped in a few hints about who he supports.

Paying recognition to Alabama's first female chief justice, Sue Bell Cobb, who spoke first at the dinner, Clinton joked, "I've about decided women ought to run everything."

Whether Bill Clinton's appearance will help his wife's chances in the state's presidential primary on Feb. 5 remains to be seen.

"He's a superstar in the party and in the nation. It's got to help," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Marcel Black, D-Tuscumbia, told the Associated Press.

David Lanoue, chairman of the political science department at the University of Alabama, said Democrats view President Clinton's two terms as a "golden period" for the party. "Any time Bill Clinton shows up, it's better for Hillary."

Lanoue said it's especially important in Alabama because the state's Democratic presidential primary will be an early test of whether Hillary Clinton will enjoy the strong African-American support her husband had - or whether Illinois Sen. Barack Obama will draw it instead.

Gerald Johnson, pollster for the Alabama Education Association, is conducting a statewide presidential poll and said preliminary indications are the race will end up much like that last poll in February, which had Hillary Clinton leading, Obama second, and John Edwards and Al Gore about tied for third.