After a long night of marathon votes in which Democrats forced Republicans to reject the most important, most popular provisions of Obamacare, the Senate voted along party lines (only Rand Paul [R-KY] broke ranks) to begin the process of repeal.
The vote was 51 to 48. During the roll call, Democrats staged a highly unusual protest on the Senate floor to express their dismay and anger at the prospect that millions of Americans could lose health insurance coverage.
One by one, Democrats rose to voice their objections. Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington said that Republicans were “stealing health care from Americans.” Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said he was voting no “because health care should not just be for the healthy and wealthy.”
The presiding officer, Senator Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, repeatedly banged his gavel and said the Democrats were out of order because “debate is not allowed during a vote.”
You can watch that strong display of unity below the fold. One by one, senators from the whole spectrum of the Democratic party stood with their constituents to reject repeal. That includes the red and purple state senators up for re-election in 2018, the group that Republicans think they can peel away from Democrats. Jon Tester (D-MT), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Joe Manchin (D-WV)—all stood in defiance of Republicans and their rush to repeal, with no replacement bill in sight.
Democrats are not going to bail out Republicans when they come calling for help with repeal. That's the message sent loud and clear last night.