Howard Dean, former Vermont governor and Democratic presidential candidate, closed out the portion of Tuesday's Democratic National Convention dedicated to Hillary Clinton and health care. He started with Clinton's pivotal role pushing through the federal State Children's Health Insurance Program, then "joining with Republican governors to get it done." Thanks to Clinton, Dean said, "eight million children who don't have to choose between paying rent and taking their kids to the doctor." ObamaCare expanded heath insurance to 20 million more Americans, and Donald Trump has vowed to rip the law up and "take us back" to the unpopular parts of the pre-ObamaCare medical system.
Trump's plan to replace ObamaCare is "'something so much better' — something huuuuge, no doubt," but "that's it, that's the whole plan." Then he took aim at Trump's running mate, saying Indiana Gov. Mike Pence voted against expanding SCHIP and mental health, and once said that when both parents work, their children suffered "stunted emotional growth." Well, Dean said, "I have a medical degree — let me tell you what really stunts children's growth." He listed some things Pence has opposed — including health care expansion and gun control — then threw in a dig at Pence's statements on cigarettes being safe.
Dean ended on a note of light-hearted self-deprecation, re-enacting the finale of a speech he gave after losing the 2004 Iowa caucuses, ending with a screech-yell widely credited with ending his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
He did not actually scream out "yeeeeah!" but thanks to YouTube, you can always watch the original.
-
A ‘golden age’ of nuclear powerThe Explainer The government is promising to ‘fire up nuclear power’. Why, and how?
-
Massacre in Darfur: the world looked the other wayTalking Point Atrocities in El Fasher follow decades of repression of Sudan’s black African population
-
Trump’s trade war: has China won?Talking Point US president wanted to punish Beijing, but the Asian superpower now holds the whip hand
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
