The Star Tribune covers Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar in the manner of a public relations firm promoting a client. Thus the Star Tribune follows up on yesterday’s early hours defeat of Obamacare repeal in the Senate. Senator John McCain theatrically cast the decisive vote against repeal with this bombshell, courtesy of Senator Klobuchar herself:
Just before he cast the deciding vote on the Senate’s latest health care repeal bill, Sen. John McCain turned and whispered something in Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s ear: “I’m going to vote ‘no.’ ”
It was past 1 a.m. Friday and weary senators had gathered in the chamber, waiting for the roll call. Vice President Mike Pence was walking around the Senate floor, ready to break the anticipated 50-50 tie if Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins joined every Senate Democrat in voting against the so-called “skinny repeal” of select parts of the Affordable Care Act.
“Tensions were high; people had been up late into the night. No one quite knew what he was going to do,” Klobuchar said of McCain.
Then, Klobuchar said, he “came over to our group and I gave him a hug and he whispered, ‘I’m voting no.’”
How did Senator McCain square his vote on Friday morning with previous votes to repeal Obamacare or with his campaign promises to repeal it in the future? The Star Tribune of course overlooks McCain’s betrayal. So far as I can tell from the story, McCain failed to confide his explanation to Klobuchar.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.