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We Were There: Convention Recap Days One and Two

Posted by: Julia Eisman on Sep 03, 2008

Last week, Families USA was in Denver, Colorado attending the Democratic National Convention, where the energy was a mile high and there was no shortage of events to keep us busy. Our mission: to encourage Convention-goers and party leaders to put make health care the top domestic priority for the next President and Congress.

We didn't leave a minute to spare. Our days started bright and early at 7:00 am and ended around 9:00 pm.  Each day began at the Delegate Breakfast meetings, an ideal time to talk with delegates one-on-one about health care. The timing couldn't have been better given the release of the Census numbers last Tuesday showing that, even though the overall number of uninsured is down, it's not because people are getting coverage through their employer. In fact, quite the opposite: there is a continued erosion of employer-based coverage. In a nutshell, the number of Americans in poverty rose, and as families moved into lower income brackets, they qualified for Federal programs like Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

We weren't the only ones to bring up the subject. Health care was among the top issues discussed throughout the week. On day one at the Hispanic Caucus, Senator Clinton made a passionate call for quality affordable health care for all during her speech, when she said that she "can't wait to watch Barack Obama sign a health care plan into law that covers every single American." After all, she herself ran on a platform "to create a health care system that is universal, high quality, and affordable so that parents no longer have to choose between care for themselves or their children or be stuck in dead end jobs simply to keep their insurance." That same night, Michelle Obama emphasized Senator Obama's demand for affordable health care.

But the highlight of the night was when Senator Kennedy made a rousing call for reforming our health care system. This might not come as a surprise since he has championed many pieces of health care legislation, including the fight to overturn Bush's veto of SCHIP, and his recent successful leadership overriding Bush's veto of the Medicare doctor payment fix. However, this night was different from most. After the Senator's recent diagnosis with a brain tumor, his powerful and commanding voice echoed throughout in the arena as he repeated two words over and over: health care. For Senator Kennedy, health care is a top priority and you can bet that come January, Senator Kennedy will lace up his boxing gloves and fight for every uninsured and underinsured American, starting with the reauthorization of SCHIP. 

Read more about Senator Kennedy's speech and watch it here.