LOUISVILLE — Former President Bill Clinton urged Kentuckians on Monday night to send Democrat Jack Conway to the U.S. Senate, but Republican U.S. Senate nominee Rand Paul called Clinton's election-eve push "too little, too late."

Clinton, who spoke for 36 minutes to a crowd of about 2,000 on the University of Louisville campus, said Conway "says more about where we need to go, what we need to do and how we need to do it" than any U.S. Senate candidate in America this fall.

Standing in front of a statue of Rodin's The Thinker and near the U of L Brandeis School of Law, Clinton said voters should look at the facts about where Republicans want to take this country.

"Why is this even a race?" he asked, contending that the GOP administration of former President George W. Bush created the sour economy.

Clinton also chided Paul for calling for abolition of the U.S. Department of Education, saying the move could hurt funding for Kentucky schools and aid to higher education.

In introducing Clinton, Conway, the state's attorney general, said that Kentucky loves Clinton and that he admires how far Clinton has come from a poor childhood.

"He didn't have a father who ran for president and turned over an Internet fund-raising computer base to him," Conway said in referring to Paul's father, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who ran for president in 2008 and raised money through online fund-raisers called "money bombs."

Before the rally, Conway said Clinton's second visit to the state for him this fall will help him with voter turnout. Clinton campaigned for Conway last month on the University of Kentucky campus.

Though polls show him trailing Paul, Conway said he is confident he will win.

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