Excellent point. Of course we’re grateful for McCain’s vote, and for his doing the right thing. If he had voted with the rest of the Republicans, the outcome would have been very different, with Pence breaking a tie.

We are also grateful for the votes of Collins and Murkowski, as their votes also made a difference. They are no less heroic than McCain — and probably more so, considering their consistency on this. Especially Murkowski, who didn’t fold when Trump attempted to blackmail her into changing her vote (or was that extortion?).

But if we’re counting unsung heroes, how about every single Democrat in the Senate holding fast and refusing to allow the Republicans to trash the ACA? Their votes were every bit as important as those of the three Republicans, because if even one of them had voted differently or been absent, the outcome would have been different.

McCain has been much heralded for heading back to Washington to vote on this legislation, despite his cancer diagnosis and recent surgery. But he’s not the only one. Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii is also suffering from cancer (stage 4 kidney), and is recovering from recent major surgery to have a kidney removed. Yet she managed to come back to Washington to vote on this as well. And her vote mattered as much as McCain’s did.

    Victoria Lamb Hatch

    Written by

    Pacific Coaster transplanted to North Carolina

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