Way too many nutcases over there and he knows it.

Moran from Kansas might be an example. I noticed he didn't vote with the pack. He voted yes at the very end, after there were three no votes. He's voted no a couple of times previously. I don't know if he would have voted differently last night, but seemed odd that he waited until the very end.

One gets the feeling that they didn't really want this to pass - they did not want to own it.

And he did not. This will hurt him. Mclame hates trump. You're right about him not running again being part of the reason

it might hurt him in the General. But voting no could lose him the primary.

He's toast.

This state is turning reliabily blue. And he's not real popular or smart.

the Republicums cared about smart?

They have NEVER cared about smart!

Douche named Buckley. Example of what happens when you combine intelligence with moral vacuity.

Heller will win or lose based on the Trump disaster continuing and if his party does nothing to stop it.

and hearing Trump trash it constantly that most of the GOP and their constituents actually grew to believe it.

And, also over the years, I don't remember a single person from the press actually hold anyone's feet to the fire to ask them to spell out EXACTLY what was wrong with ACA (other than their meme that premiums now outrageous).

But the smarter ones, in the quiet booths of Capitol Hill cocktail lounges, knew it was all just an orchestrated scam to hide the fact that they simply don't give a shit about people less fortunate.

They actually came to believe themselves. Eric Cantor's recent admission (brave of him now that it can't possibly hurt him) is probably true of most of them (minus a few geniuses like Looie Gomert).

but six or eight of them have voiced how the Skinny Bill is a failure, even though they still voted for it.

Some GOP senators voted for it, while hoping that it would never become law.

But the House is nuts, and could have just passed it through.

I was analyzing.
I think a group of them knew the bill had to fail, but had to do it in a way that they could vote for it.
He took the hit form the Conservatives to see it happen.

John McCain is a complex person, like all of us. I do think he hates Trump and Trumpism, loves the limelight and the adoration of the elites. Last night was the trifecta for him.

For a bill that was hugely unpopular. The Senate isn't gerrymandered. Please dear God let our side write effective ads next fall!

but small States get Senators and they are mostly red.

Senate vote totals in 2016; Dems-45 million Rep-39 million

since they formed. Drive through SC when Lindsay's up for re-election and you'll see hand drawn signs calling him a RINO and a Democrat. So I agree with this.

ha voted for a bill he said was a complete disaster.

McCain voting achieved the preferred result without Graham having to put a target on his back.

McCain had agreed to take the hit and vote No. I don't care. The bill failed. However it failed, it failed, and that's a good thing.

The two women who voted against it, however, did so on principle. For them I have high praise indeed. Their bravery and commitment makes them heroes, at least on this measure. They are still Republicans, though, so i'd vote against either if they were the Senator from my state.

I appreciate that these women's dislike of the poor, the nonwhite and the disabled stopped just short of trying to allow them to die suffering.

So, thanks?

They will vote with the Putinaires 95% of the time, but I guess with this group we SHOULD praise the few who seem less likely than most Repubs to pull the wings off flies for giggles

But, they did a damn good thing, so, praise be to them for that.

Republican women who are under fire and gave cover to others who don't have the spine that they do.

.

But to reiterate a point, McCain took a bullet for SOME of the GOP Senators, not all. I think the turtle is evil enough that he wanted some sort of repeal, his wife isn't in the Trump Admin for nothing.

There are definitely those Senators who wanted the ACA completely gone and didn't care what happened to the populace.

I said elsewhere it is 6 or 8 other Republiscums.

Most are amoral assholes.

I believe you are correct.

Makes all their applause when McCain returned from hospital, in retrospect, somewhat "awkward"!

He covered for several senators that will have tough re-election bids in '18. Hopefully they are in the "damned if they do, damned if they don't" camp. After all, they voted to take people's healthcare away. That should be duly noted in their campaigns.

At least people here aren't wishing a painful death for him today (so far).

However, it's a shame his fellow repukes are such cowards but given the batshit crazy wing of the repuke party and their threats to primary sitting repuke senators with even crazier repukes, I can understand why they did it.

I think Lindsay Graham would have voted no ,but he wanted his friend to have the big moment.

For not standing up for their people and not standing up to Trump.
They are the worst cowards.

I believe every vote is calculated to give cover to those at risk. There are a few who stand up for what they believe, regardless of the pressure, such as Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, but they are a rare breed these days.

It's all about power to these folks, not results. There still afraid of the looneys in the primary.

I tend to believe he was covering his own ass legacy, not the other wingers. He knows the public was ready to string him up after the first vote of yes to bring forth, and he needed to get his legacy improved.... nice try but in my opinion, his legacy is still that first vote of yes.

but other Senators also denounced the bill and still voted for it.

He has done so many times in the past as well.

Correct, thats my point. IMO I dont think he cared what anyone was doing but himself. He knew he needed to vote no, to get all the bad rap out of his life.

at this point.

DT may tweet that McCain is no longer a war hero again.
Ugg

with the hope that no one would be paying attention when the bill they really wanted, the so-called "skinny" bill came up.

Murkowski was threatened that if she voted no the trump administration would retaliate against her state. That was not an act, and it backfired on them.

Both Pence and McConnell approached McCain multiple times on the Senate Floor when it became apparent they couldn't count on his vote. That wasn't an act.

Paul Ryan was asked to keep all house members available, and expect a bill that night. That wasn't an act.

The visible gasps on the Senate floor when McCain voted no was not an act

I was proud of Murkowski for saying, fuck you, after DT threatened her. Also, Alaska is one of the most dependent states on Planned Parenthood.

She is a lioness, and if you mess with her, she is not going to take it.

Some may not remember, but she won her race against the tea party candidate with a write-in campaign. That does NOT happen, and was against all odds.

The rest can still get their Koch money.

at the House available that night, and to expect a bill that night.

Murkowski was threatened by the trump administration that if she voted no they would retaliate against Alaska.

This wasn't a show. McCain was approached multiple times on the floor of the Senate by Pence and McConnell when it became obvious that they could not rely on his vote, and when McCain finally did vote, there were audible gasps.

This was not an act to cover for someone. In fact the perfect example was Heller's vote in Nevada. Heller by voting yes has made his campaign in 2018 that much more difficult by that action.

We are just very lucky that this went down, because it almost didn't, and while this is a reprieve, it is far from over, which makes the stakes even that much more critical in 2018

respectfully disagree! I like believing that McCain really felt for the American people this time just saying this time i would like to give him the benefit of the doubt! In my eyes he for one moment he deserves my applause! (maybe his wife swayed him?)

A number of Repukes thought this bill was a custerfuck, maybe half a dozen or so.
But with the two women against they needed one more vote.
McCain took the point for them.
I have no problem with applauding him, I am just looking at the behind the scenes politics.

I don't see it that way I just have a thought he did this entirely on his own but you could be right no denying that

Heller, Capito and Portman ET AL. I think McConnell lost his mind. He expected Senators to take a vote that would have very likely doomed them in their next election. It would never be forgotten or forgiven.

just a select few Senators that McConnell put in an awkward position.

this year. Had McCain not voted to bring it to the floor, it could have been tabled and brought back later. But it was voted down. Skinny repeal was their only chance for a 50 vote bill as the parliamentarian ruled against repeal and replace. So if I am correct, this is a giant FU to McConnell.

but I don't trust them to try something else. Rules don't apply to them.

with 50 votes...but I do think even some GOP types would vote against that.

He has miscounted key votes in the senate on their repeal attempts repeatedly. That indicates he does not have the best relationship with his fellow GOP senators. Who would have thought our economy and health depended on key people being incompetent at executing their roles?