The Senate bill to repeal Obamacare was defeated last night by a vote of 51 to 49, with three Republicans voting against it. Those three were Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John McCain of Arizona.
The bill deserved to fail on its lack of merit: its express purpose was to cause the Obamacare exchanges to fail. It would immediately cause rates to go up at least 20%, causing millions of people to lose their insurance. Many Republicans wanted it to fail, saying they would vote for it only if the House promised to reject it.
But the real reason the bill failed may be Trump's incorrigible habit of insults and boorish, vulgar behavior.
Just last week John McCain found out he has a malignant form of brain cancer. Many have speculated that the diagnosis caused a sudden surge of empathy and bipartisanship in McCain. That may certainly be the case.
In the past McCain has cooperated with Democrats after undergoing a personal shock. The most glaring example was the shoddy treatment McCain received during the 2000 Republican primary at the hands of George W. Bush's campaign, when they insinuated McCain fathered a black child. McCain subsequently cosponsored the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill, which has since been gutted by a deluded Supreme Court.
McCain knows it would be the height of hypocrisy for him to vote for a
health care bill that would take away coverage from 16 million
Americans while he himself is undergoing treatment for brain cancer on the government's dime.
But McCain is a good soldier, doing whatever he thinks is best for the Republican Party. The accepted wisdom is that the Republicans have to repeal Obamacare, otherwise the base will desert them in the next election for failing to deliver on their promise.
But the reality is that Donald Trump needs the repeal far more than the Republican Party does. He needs to show that he has accomplished something, anything. Trump has been in office for half a year and has nothing to show for it, except a seat on the Supreme Court that Mitch McConnell stole from Obama.
You can sense Trump's desperation for Congress to pass some kind of health care bill, any bill, no matter how petty or useless. Trump needs a win, right now, especially after months of self-inflicted wounds. He just got walloped by the Senate and the House with the Russia sanctions bill, which was passed by a veto-proof 99% majority, with only five total votes against it.
But Trump has been sabotaging relations with fellow Republicans for the last two years. These insults and lack of loyalty are finally coming home to roost.
During the election Trump insulted John McCain by denigrating the war hero for being captured by the Viet Cong. It is something Trump has never apologized for: Trump doesn't do apologies. It may not be the reason for McCain's vote, but Trump certainly made it easier for McCain.
Trump insulted Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and all Republican women with his constant sexism against not just Hillary Clinton and Rosie O'Donnell, but Carly Fiorina, Megyn Kelly, and Mika Brzezinski. He has bragged about sexually assaulting women and watching them undress at a beauty pageant. And he still hasn't learned: his demeaning remarks about Brigitte Macron, the wife of France's president, were an international embarrassment.
And earlier this week Trump tried to blackmail Murkowski into voting for the health care bill. Trump had Ryan Zinke, interior secretary, threaten to cancel Alaska energy projects unless she toed the line.
Why would Collins and Murkowski stick their necks out for Trump after this behavior?
Finally, Trump's constant badgering of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who resigned from the Senate to serve Trump, has shown Republican senators that he has no concept of loyalty. Trump is filled with petty anger at people who have tried, but can't save him from his own easily avoidable mistakes.
After all the insults and boorish vulgarities Trump has showered upon fellow Republicans, why should any of them show him loyalty?
Trump is looking weaker and weaker. He's trying to oust real Republicans like Sean Spicer, Jeff Sessions and Reince Priebus, and hiring Trump-fluffing clowns like Anthony Scaramucci who think, act and swear just like Trump does. People whose proclamations of love for Donald Trump are simply too far over the top to be at all genuine.
Is this what Trump meant when he said we'll win so much that we'll get tired of winning?
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