ABC Exclusive: President Clinton Says of Democrats, 'Reports of Our Demise Have Been Exaggerated'

CHICAGO, Oct. 26, 2010 -- How bad will this election be for Democrats? Bill Clinton tells ABC News the answer depends on how badly Democrats want to win.

ABC News caught up with the former president as he worked the crowd at a rally in Chicago, where he stumped for Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias and several other Democratic candidates.

"If we want it bad enough to go out there and work for it, I think we'll get it," Clinton said. "This is the largest number of close races I've ever seen across America. I've never seen it like this."

The former president said Democrats are having a hard time getting their message out, in part, because the news media focuses more on politics than on the substantive differences between candidates. He said he can relate to President Obama's troubles.

"Anybody who has ever been there will tell you how hard it is to get a fact-based message out," Clinton said.

"It's what happened to me in '94. When you get in, you are wanting to do things," he said. "There's almost an inverse relationship in how much you accomplish and what people know about it."

Despite those difficulties, Clinton said, things are starting to look up for his party.

"We're getting there. The president's getting out and around and I see a lot more intensity at these rallies now in the last three weeks," he said. "So I think it will be a great mistake to count us out. Reports of our demise have been exaggerated."