On Sunday night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed health care reform for all of America by a vote of 219 – 212. The vote went primarily along party lines, with no Republicans voting to support the bill. But surprisingly, some Democrats also voted against the bill — all for varying reasons.
Some Democrats, who represent districts that are extremely conservative, would have been committing political suicide had they supported the bill. Other Democrats are planning to run for higher office and could not afford risking their future candidacies. These Democrats had agreements with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to support the bill IF their vote was needed for passage. But if she could string along enough votes without them, they preferred to remain in the NO column. And they did.
So exactly who were the 34 Democrats that voted against the health care reform bill — and what are their political situations like back home? A closer look at the list of 34 names shows 26 of them came from districts carried by John McCain in 2008, and include Harry Teague of New Mexico and Gene Taylor of Mississippi. But the other 8 are from districts carried by Barack Obama, including Michael Arcuri of New York, Glenn Nye of Virginia, and even African-American Rep. Artur Davis of Alabama, who is currently running for Governor of his heavily Republican state.
For a full list of the Democrats who voted NO, click HERE!
