Bill Clinton and Howard Dean tag team Donald Trump, make the case for Hillary as president at DNC
Bill Clinton touted wife Hillary Rodham Clinton’s history of public service in the headline talk Tuesday night during the Democratic National Convention. The 42nd President’s remarks followed former presidential candidate and Vermont Governor Howard Dean’s attack on Republican nominee Donald Trump’s plans for healthcare.
Clinton shared details about his wife’s history of public service including going to Texas to help Mexicans register to vote, working on children’s issues that led to a proposition in Massachusetts that children with disabilities should have equal access to public education, creating bi-partisan legislation with then-Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, and initiatives she led that tripled the number of lives saved among AIDS patients in poor countries by finding generic FDA-approved drugs affordable in those regions.
The former president also pointed to his wife’s prior work as Arkansas First Lady chairing a rural health committee in the state that made the move he called highly-controversial and very important of deploying nurse practitioners in places that lacked doctors. He added that his wife started Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, which is still active today.
And he said that Hillary was a natural to lead the healthcare reform in the 1990’s which Democrats lost because they couldn’t break a filibuster. Then in 2003 as a New York senator, Hillary served on a committee that expanded healthcare coverage for military service members, including extending care for people with traumatic brain injury.
Whereas Bill Clinton did not directly mention Republican nominee Donald Trump by name, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean was more blatant in his attacks.
Dean dated the goal of universal healthcare back to President Harry Truman.
“Between Harry Truman and Barack Obama there was Hillary Clinton, poised and persistent,” Dean said.
President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act has since expanded the number of insured citizens by 20 million people, Dean said, and brought the total of Americans covered to approximately 90 percent.
“Now we need to elect a president who will finish the job,” Dean said. “That’s what Hillary Clinton will do.”
Hillary has a plan to drive down healthcare costs, stand up to drug companies to lower prices, and to take us the last mile to finally achieve healthcare for all Americans, Dean added.
[Also: Donald Trump vows to repeal Obamacare, promising Americans 'can choose your doctor again' at RNC]
“Donald Trump has a plan, too,” Dean said. “He would rip up Obamacare and throw 20 million people off their insurance.”
Doing that would essentially render those uncovered Americans back to a time when insurance companies can charge customers higher premiums for pre-existing conditions or even being a woman, Dean said.
“What is he going to replace [Obamacare] with?” Dean asked rhetorically. “‘Something so much better. Huge, no doubt.’ That’s it. That’s his plan.”
Dean added that Trump’s pick for Vice President, Indiana Governor Mike Pence is no better, saying that he voted against expanding CHIP, voted to end Medicare, accepts contributions from tobacco companies, and is pro-gun rights.
“The choice is clear. We need a president whose decisions are rooted in the facts,” Dean said. “We need a president to ensure that universal healthcare is a basic human right.”
Bill Clinton closed by citing Hillary’s “change-making” ability as a real threat to Republicans running on the idea that government is always bad.
“Hillary will make us stronger together,” the former President said. “You know it because she’s spent a lifetime doing it.”
Twitter: SullyHIT
Email the writer: tom.sullivan@himssmedia.com
