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PAWTUCKET - The name on the ballot said Hillary Clinton, but for many Rhode Islanders it was a nostalgia for Bill Clinton that drove their voting decision Tuesday.

Voters outside St. Theresa's Church in Pawtucket said they have fond memories of when Bill Clinton was president.

They said they remember a booming economy, balanced budgets and peace.

The United States could use a dose of Clinton's policies right about now, they said.

So they voted for Hillary Clinton for president in the Democratic primary. Voters in other states agreed. According to Associated Press, Clinton scored comeback primary wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island Tuesday night, denting Barack Obama’s delegate lead in a riveting Democratic presidential race. Arizona Sen. John McCain, an unflinching supporter of the war in Iraq, clinched the Republican nomination.

Clinton’s three triumphs ended a month of defeats for the former first lady, and she told jubilant supporters, “We’re going on, we’re going strong and we’re going all the way.”

Rhode Islander Mike Newman was a strong Clinton supporter. "When Bill Clinton was president we had the only balanced budget in our history. Now we have the worst times I have ever seen."

Newman said Americans are beleaguered by mortgage foreclosures, high gasoline prices, exorbitant medical costs, unemployment and the war in Iraq.

He said the adverse conditions are approaching the levels during the Great Depression.

Bill Clinton can advise Hillary Clinton on how to bring back the good times, he said.

"I think he's a very good asset," Newman said of the former president.

President Clinton has always been enormously popular in Rhode Island. When he ran in 1992 and 1996, Rhode Island gave him some of his largest winning margins among the states.

He, Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton all campaigned in the Ocean State over the past two weeks.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., also campaigned in the state, as did his supporter, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. Rhode Island was one of four state voting Tuesday, along with Ohio, Texas and Vermont. Rhode Island officials were predicting the largest voter turnout ever for a presidential primary in the state.

Obama and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had their share of supporters during the balloting, but at noon outside St. Theresa's, Pawtucket was Clinton Country.

"I went with Hillary, given she is married to Bill Clinton," said Jim Dawson.

"She was involved with health care when Bill Clinton was president. Bill will be there to advise her."

Dawson said he has nothing against Obama, but believes Hillary Clinton has more experience.

"She is a known. Obama is a great speaker, but he is an unknown," he said.

Dawson brought his mother, Joan Dawson, with him to vote, and she had similar positive views of both Clintons.

"She is a very, very smart woman. She has been in there a long time and has the experience. Obama doesn't have any experience," she said.

She said Bill Clinton was an excellent president and that was a factor in her decision on who to vote for.

"Her husband is the only president to lower the deficit," she said.

Newman said the Clintons care about ordinary people, and that is what is needed now.

All of which raises the question of whether Hillary Clinton would be a contender if she was not the wife of a popular former president.

"If Hillary didn't have Bill Clinton's last name, Barack Obama would be a shoo-in," Dawson said.