Former President Bill Clinton came to Louisville yesterday with the message that his wife is the best-qualified candidate to be the nation's next president.

He told about 400 Hillary Clinton supporters at a Butler Traditional High School rally to ignore anyone who suggests she can't win enough delegates to capture the Democratic nomination.

"They've tried to bury her more times than a cat's got lives," he said of his wife's sometimes-bumpy trip through the primary season.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, a senator from New York, is favored to win Kentucky's Democratic presidential primary Tuesday over Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

However, Obama is well ahead of Clinton in delegates and is closing in on the 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination.

Clinton's visit to Louisville marked the start of a three-day swing through Kentucky. He had appearances last night in Bardstown and Elizabethtown and will make five stops today in Western Kentucky.

Late last night, his wife's campaign said she will visit the state tomorrow, although her campaign did not immediately say where she will appear. Obama was in Louisville Monday for a rally.

Though the audience yesterday for the former president filled less than half the Butler gym, those in attendance enthusiastically embraced his campaign message.

"Don't count her out," said Javon Benford, 27, of Louisville, a customer service manager for Kroger. "She's an exceptional person who can overcome."

The former president spoke for about 35 minutes, going into detail about his wife's positions on the issues, including health care, education, the economy, national security and energy independence.

The question he posed to the audience: "Who would be the best president for me, my family, my state?"

The audience answered, "Hillary!"

The former president did not mention Obama by name, nor did he mention the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

He contrasted economic trends of the past seven years with the strong economy during his own 1993-2001 administration, when he said economic growth mostly benefited the working class.

That history, he suggested, should tell Kentucky voters "who would do the best job of rebuilding the middle class."

The former president said there is a role for coal in the nation's move toward energy independence, but "we have no choice but to produce clean coal in America."

He said his wife's platform calls for "setting up 10 demonstration projects" as part of the plan to determine how to burn coal more cleanly.

Clinton also touched on policies of President Bush that his wife would end, including the No Child Left Behind law that employs test results in an effort to improve the public schools.

"These tests are never going to close the learning gap," Clinton said. He said his wife would redirect funds used for that program to improve teacher training.

The former president closed by asking which candidate would make the best president, then answered the question with a reference to Hillary Clinton's primary win earlier this week.

"The people of West Virginia gave us the answer to that," he said. "And I hope you will give the same."

Kevin Schmidt, 21, of Louisville, a student at Indiana University Southeast, said he was for Clinton "because she knows what she wants to do and how to do it. And I think she should stay in the race. She's this close, she might as well finish."