Obama and Romney race for the finish as election day nears - US politics live The Guardian's Jonathan Freedland was in Bristow, Virginia, last night for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama's joint appearance there: For Democratic activists, this was the Beatles and the Stones sharing a double bill. Saturday night was bitterly cold in Bristow, Virginia, but that didn't stop thousands coming to a rally addressed by the two best orators their party has produced since Robert Kennedy. "It's once in a lifetime," Jennifer Rodriguez, a nurse who'd made the journey from Richmond, told me. Of course Bill Clinton has to play the support act these days, but he does so with huge heart. He bounded on stage in brown leather bomber jacket, wrapped up far less warmly than his audience, and delivered what was largely a reprise of his Charlotte showstopper, when he wowed the Democratic convention with a masterclass in substantive rhetoric, patiently laying out the policy-based reasons why the American people should re-elect their president. His voice was so hoarse, you wondered if it would give out. But the crowd stayed with him, lapping up the unarguable simplicity of lines such as ""We're all in this together" is better than "you're on your own."" And he can still work a rally like the most seasoned Catskills comic. Of Mitt Romney's multiple positions on the auto-bailout, Clinton said: "He's tied himself up in so many knots, he could be hired as the chief contortionist of Cirque du Soleil." There were two moments of almost imperceptible tension. One came early, when Clinton confessed himself "more excited" about supporting Barack Obama "even than I was four years ago." It brought a fleeting reminder that in early 2008, Bill Clinton was devoting all his red-faced energy to dismissing the Obama candidacy as a "fairytale." Later the former president spoke of the ailment known as Romnesia, the habit of forgetting the Republican's past record. I'm pretty sure I heard him add, as an aside, that "His opponent may even have got a bit of it." That sounded like a reference to Obama himself, an apparent dig at the president's failure, especially in the first debate, to nail Romney's many contradictions. If that's what it was, few noticed it. Instead, the crowd cheered for Obama when he come on to high-five and hug his predecessor - and cheered louder as he delivered a strong, confident and, at times, stirring performance. He lavished praise on Clinton, saying his team "calls him the Secretary of Explaining Stuff." He added that "the only person working harder than he is is Hillary." When the speeches were over, the two men worked the ropeline together to the sound of Clinton's old anthem, Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow. Yesterday the Clintons were Obama's foes. Today they are two of his most useful friends.