President Bill Clinton said Democrats should put forward their own governing document to contrast the “Pledge to America” agenda that House Republican leaders unveiled Thursday.

Clinton, who was president in 1994 when House Republicans unveiled their “Contract With America,” said there is still time before the elections for Democrats to rally around a platform of their own.

“I think that the president and the Democrats even at this late date should do this, as an opportunity and an obligation to say, ‘All right, they’ve organized their national plan. Here’s what ours is. If you hire us for two more years, here’s what we’re going to do,'” Clinton said Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

The former president warned how “easy it is to lose control of the debate,” referring to GOP success in 1994 when the party took over Congress, and he said Democrats should simplify their message by putting “on one card no more than five and no fewer than three things that will be their priorities.”

Items should include job training and federal spending, with a specific reference to the bipartisan deficit reduction committee, he said.

“We’ve got 30 days to have an honest debate. We ought to do it. So far, this election has been about stuff that’s not going to affect people’s lives very much, at least directly,” Clinton said.