The opening night of the Democratic convention included a video tribute to the late Sen. Ted Kennedy and his accomplishments — one of which was socking it to Mitt Romney.
The most crowd-pleasing parts of the seven-minute video Tuesday night featured snippets of debates from the 1994 contest for U.S. Senate between Kennedy and Romney, which were notably unflattering for the now-Republican nominee for president.
One exchange from the debate that year highlighted in the clip:
ROMNEY: “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support it. And I sustain and support that law and the right of a woman to make that choice.”KENNEDY: “On the question of the choice issue — I have supported the Roe v. Wade. I am pro-choice. My opponent is multiple choice.”
Another featured Kennedy chiding Romney for remarks on health care reform.
The clip package also included Kennedy savagely mocking Romney as a flip-flopper.
“Now he’s for family leave. Now he looks like he’s for minimum wage. Now he’s for education reform,” the senator said. “If we give him two more weeks then he may even vote for me, because those are the things that I am for.”
The anti-Romney crowd erupted with thunderous applause.
The video tribute mentioned the causes Kennedy championed — including civil rights, voting rights, immigration reform, women’s rights and universal health care.
Sahil Kapur
Sahil Kapur is a congressional reporter for TPM. He previously covered politics and public policy for numerous publications including The Guardian and The Huffington Post. He can be reached at sahil [at] talkingpointsmemo.com.
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