When John McCain cast the decisive vote against Obamacare repeal two months ago, Chuck Schumer waved an arm to quiet fellow Democrats as they burst into audible elation. 
 
 Don’t gloat or cheer over the GOP’s failure, Schumer signaled — a move he made again on Friday in a statement, after McCain delivered what looks like a fatal blow to his party’s seven-year drive to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. 
 
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 Far from celebrating, Democrats tempered their responses to McCain with reminders of the bipartisan health care talks that Republicans had walked away from when they took one last shot at repealing Obamacare. And even as their liberal base turned a rally to pressure McCain into a thank-you celebration, Democrats stopped far short of declaring repeal dead. 
 
 “John McCain shows the same courage in Congress that he showed when he was a naval aviator,” the Senate minority leader said in his statement about the Arizona Republican’s opposition to repeal. “I have assured Senator McCain that as soon as repeal is off the table, we Democrats are intent on resuming the bipartisan process.” 
 
 A senior Senate Democratic aide summed up the next step: "Now we extend the olive branch to bipartisanship." 
 
 The latest Obamacare repeal gambit, shepherded this time by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), caught many Democratic lawmakers and liberal activists off-guard. They reminded one another publicly and privately on Friday that, McCain's opposition aside, only the Sept. 30 expiration of Republicans' ability to push through repeal with 50 votes can give Obamacare supporters room to breathe easy. 
 
 "This bill is not dead yet," Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) tweeted. "You can relax on October 1. They never let up, and neither can we." 
 
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 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's office did not immediately respond to questions about whether he will still hold the vote on the bill, which would turn Obamacare funding into block grants for the states, make deep cuts to Medicaid and undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Proponents say it would provide needed flexibility to governors to administer health care. 
 
 One Democratic aide advised the party to maintain a dual mission: "Democrats need to stay vocal about the dangers of this bill and keep pushing for bipartisan solutions." 
 
 Liberal groups that had hustled their grass-roots cavalry back to Democrats' side are staying vocal, despite some lingering frustration over Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) cutting a short-term fiscal deal with President Donald Trump. 
 
 Anti-repeal activists are pressing ahead with their plans for dozens of rallies this weekend, with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee maintaining a five-figure ad campaign it rolled out Friday that targets GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Dean Heller of Nevada, Susan Collins of Maine, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Jeff Flake of Arizona. 
 
 "Until we have three rock-solid nos that are public, we shouldn’t assume that everything is completely off the table next week," MoveOn.org Washington director Ben Wikler said in an interview. 
 
 In a move sure to please Democrats, McCain's lengthy statement on his opposition to the Graham-Cassidy bill also included an encouragement of the bipartisan talks led by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) to shore up insurance markets, which GOP leadership had all but quashed earlier this week. 
 
 “I fear that the prospect of one last attempt at a strictly Republican bill has left the impression that their efforts cannot succeed,” McCain said of Alexander and Murray. “I hope they will resume their work should this last attempt at a partisan solution fail.” 
 
 Murray quickly released a statement describing herself as "still at the table ready to keep working," adding, "I remain confident that we can reach a bipartisan agreement as soon as this latest partisan approach by Republican leaders is finally set aside.” 
 
 Minutes after McCain's announcement, Pelosi blasted out an email to her colleagues, urging them to move ahead with plans to hold events in opposition to the bill this weekend despite the likelihood that repeal cannot move forward. 
 
 "This weekend, we will continue to highlight the devastating costs Republicans are trying to inflict on hard-working Americans,” Pelosi said. “Together, we will finally put the stake in the heart of this monstrous bill.” 
 
 Pelosi will also hold a conference call with health care advocates and progressive allies on Saturday and talk health care on NBC’s "Meet the Press" on Sunday. 
 
 Before McCain upended the latest Republican repeal drive, several Democratic aides had privately echoed some liberal activists' complaints that Schumer and Pelosi's debt-limit deal backfired — clearing the September calendar and giving Republicans more time to turn their focus to health care. But Pelosi brushed aside the insinuation when asked by reporters, saying the two issues “aren’t even related.” 
 
 Other Democrats had fretted about the timing of Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ splashy single-payer health care rollout, which Republicans quickly seized on as a talking point to rally their troops behind repeal. Democrats publicly dismissed that claim but say privately they don’t want to antagonize Republicans until the Sept. 30 deadline is past. 
 
 Part of Democrats' guarded tone on Friday is rooted in lessons learned from previous exultation earlier this year, when they thought the GOP had been thwarted, only to see another repeal push roar to life. 
 
 Pelosi’s tone, while more aggressive than Schumer's, is a far cry from those previous celebrations. 
 
 "I call upon Speaker [Paul] Ryan to now initiate a bipartisan effort in the House to improve and update the Affordable Care Act," she said. ||||| (CNN) Sen. John McCain announced Friday in a statement that he cannot "in good conscience" vote for the GOP's latest plan to overhaul Obamacare, likely ending Republicans' latest effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. 
 
 "I cannot in good conscience vote for the Graham-Cassidy proposal," the Arizona Republican said in a statement. "I believe we could do better working together, Republicans and Democrats, and have not yet really tried. Nor could I support it without knowing how much it will cost, how it will (affect) insurance premiums, and how many people will be helped or hurt by it. Without a full CBO score, which won't be available by the end of the month, we won't have reliable answers to any of those questions." 
 
 McCain's "no" vote means it is likely Republicans won't be able to repeal and replace Obamacare before September 30, as Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said he would not back Graham-Cassidy and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has said she is leaning "no" on the proposal. But there are still questions as to where Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is at the moment. It's also unclear if senators on the fence would support a procedural motion on the bill even if they decide they are against Graham-Cassidy in the end. 
 
 Republicans need at least 50 votes to pass the measure under the process of reconciliation. 
 
 Murkowski, Paul and Collins also under scrutiny 
 
 McCain was one of three most-watched members on the fence and considered a key vote on the bill. Without his support, Republicans would need to get Murkowski as well as Collins to sign on. It's unlikely considering the fact that Collins said Friday afternoon that she was leaning against the bill and had key concerns that the legislation did not do enough to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions. 
 
 "I'm leaning against the bill," Collins said Friday at a Portland, Maine, event, according to The Portland Press Herald. 
 
 A Republican aide involved in the process said Friday afternoon that GOP leaders are at the "evaluating options" stage right now. 
 
 The aide added, "I'm not breaking news telling you this isn't good." 
 
 Paul, the only other Republican other than McCain who has so far definitively come out against Graham-Cassidy, is "unlikely" to change his mind even if changes are made to the bill, his spokesman Sergio Gor told CNN. 
 
 Graham and McCain's close friendship 
 
 McCain's announcement comes despite that one of the bill's key sponsors -- Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina -- is a close confidant. The thinking was if anyone could convince McCain to vote "yes," it would be Graham. 
 
 "I take no pleasure in announcing my opposition. Far from it," McCain said. "The bill's authors are my dear friends, and I think the world of them. I know they are acting consistently with their beliefs and sense of what is best for the country. So am I." 
 
 McCain has said for weeks that he would not support health care legislation that had not gone through "regular order," meaning Senate hearings, an amendment process and a rigorous floor debate. 
 
 Graham said he "respectfully" disagrees with McCain and will "press on" with his legislation. 
 
 "My friendship with John McCain is not based on how he votes but respect for how he's lived his life and the person he is," Graham said in a statement and on Twitter, adding later, "I feel an obligation to fix this disaster and intend to push forward for state-centric health care versus Washington-knows-best health care." 
 
 My friendship with @SenJohnMcCain is not based on how he votes but respect for how he's lived his life and the person he is. — Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 22, 2017 
 
 McCain voted "no" on the last health care proposal in July for the same reason. McCain's dramatic floor vote, which happened just weeks after he was diagnosed with brain cancer, came in the early morning and was captured as one of his most "maverick" moments in the Senate. 
 
 What the White House is thinking 
 
 A senior White House official told CNN that McCain's opposition "undeniably hurts" the effort to repeal and replace Obamacare but that President Donald Trump is not ready to give up on the effort yet. 
 
 "The President has been engaged all along, and I think you will continue to see him reach out," the official said. "We have been having conversations with Graham and Cassidy for a couple months and ... even though there may be members who want to give up, the President does not." 
 
 Top White House aides have been talking with Graham and Sen. Bill Cassidy for months now, and in between events at the United Nations this week, Trump called senators to talk about the upcoming health care vote, White House officials said. Trump was hoping to solidify Republicans around the deal struck by the two senators and urged many of the lawmakers to stay loyal to him. 
 
 The White House official, though, added that even though chances of passing health care look bleak, the White House intends to juggle between Graham-Cassidy and tax reform next week. 
 
 Vice President Mike Pence indirectly addressed the decision during a speech Friday afternoon in Anderson, Indiana. 
 
 "The vote could come as early as next week and this is not going to be easy. Even now, the opposition is forming up and some have gone so far to announce their opposition already. But President Trump and I are undeterred," Pence said. 
 
 "We cannot in good conscious abandon this cause," Pence said to applause in his home state. 
 
 Democrats praise McCain 
 
 Just moments after McCain announced his opposition, Democrats seized on the opportunity to bring back bipartisan talks that had stalled last week. 
 
 Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee had held bipartisan hearings over the last month on how to stabilize Obamacare marketplaces and were making progress in their negotiations. But the House leadership made it clear last week that the chamber probably would not be able to pass such a bill. 
 
 As soon as McCain announced his opposition, Murray announced she was still open to reigniting those talks. 
 
 "I agree with Senator McCain that the right way to get things done in the Senate — especially on an issue as important to families as their health care — is through regular order and working together to find common ground," Murray said. "I'm still at the table ready to keep working, and I remain confident that we can reach a bipartisan agreement as soon as this latest partisan approach by Republican leaders is finally set aside." 
 
 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also praised McCain shortly after his announcement. 
 
 "John McCain shows the same courage in Congress that he showed when he was a naval aviator," the New York Democrat said in a statement. "I have assured Senator McCain that as soon as repeal is off the table, we Democrats are intent on resuming the bipartisan process." 
 
 For her part, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said her members would continue working "to put the stake in the heart of this monstrous bill." 
 
 "This weekend, we will continue to highlight the devastating costs Republicans are trying to inflict on hard-working Americans," she said in a letter to colleagues. 
 
 This story has been updated and will update with additional developments. ||||| After seven years and four months, the Republican quest to repeal Obamacare has taken on vampiric qualities. A number of times since March, it has appeared to be dead, but each time it has resurrected itself. The latest occasion came on Tuesday afternoon, when Vice-President Mike Pence broke a tie in the Senate on a procedural motion that Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority leader, had put forward. 
 
 If this motion, which called on the Senate to take up discussion of the health-care bill that the House of Representatives passed in May, had been defeated, the repeal effort would likely have been finished. But McConnell and his colleagues managed to cobble together just enough votes to keep their ambitions alive. 
 
 The swing vote was cast by Shelley Moore Capito, the junior senator from West Virginia, who, last week, had joined with two of her Republican colleagues, Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, to block McConnell’s idea of having a vote solely on repealing the A.C.A., without putting in place any replacement measures. If Capito had stuck with Collins and Murkowski, both of whom voted against the procedural motion on Tuesday, it, too, would have failed. But, after meeting with Donald Trump in her home state on Monday, Capito put party loyalty before the interests of her constituents, about a third of whom are on Medicaid. 
 
 The vote was also marked by the dramatic appearance of John McCain, who returned to the Senate for the first time since being diagnosed with brain cancer. After receiving a standing ovation from his colleagues, McCain cast a vote in favor of McConnell’s motion, and then spoke from the floor of the Senate with great passion. After referring to his thirty-year career in the Senate, and his work with politicians of widely divergent views from both parties, he went on: 
 
 I hope we can again rely on humility, on our need to coöperate, on our dependence on each other to learn how to trust each other again and by so doing better serve the people who elected us. Stop listening to the bombastic loudmouths on the radio and television and the Internet. To hell with them. They don’t want anything done for the public good. Our incapacity is their livelihood. 
 
 Let’s trust each other. Let’s return to regular order. We’ve been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from across the aisle. That’s an approach that’s been employed by both sides, mandating legislation from the top down, without any support from the other side, with all the parliamentary maneuvers that requires. 
 
 We’re getting nothing done. . . . We’ve tried to do this by coming up with a proposal behind closed doors in consultation with the Administration, then springing it on skeptical members, trying to convince them it’s better than nothing, asking us to swallow our doubts and force it past a unified opposition. I don’t think that is going to work in the end. And it probably shouldn’t. 
 
 These were stirring words, and they contained a lot of truth. But what good did this verbal tour de force do? In voting for McConnell’s motion, McCain participated in precisely the sort of cynical partisan political maneuver that he inveighed against. For months now, McConnell has been scheming to shove through a monumentally consequential reform without any hearings, markups, or efforts to reach out to Democrats. After last week, when this scheming looked destined to fail, he called for Tuesday’s vote on the “motion to consider”—even though he had not made clear what sort of measure the members would be taking up. 
 
 McCain supported McConnell’s motion. In doing so, he helped enable the Majority Leader to pursue his fallback strategy: getting practically any sort of measure passed and tossing the details of reform over to a Senate-House conference, which would deliberate in secrecy, with little input from anyone outside the G.O.P. leadership. 
 
 The Senate is now set to vote on three bills that have practically no chance of getting fifty-one votes: a repeal-only bill; the “repeal-and-replace” bill that McConnell originally proposed; and a revised version of the McConnell bill that includes an amendment from Ted Cruz, of Texas, which would allow insurers to sell cheap catastrophic-insurance policies outside of the Obamacare exchanges. After these votes are held, McConnell is expected to propose a so-called “skinny” repeal bill, which calls for the repeal of the individual and employer mandates but leaves everything else to be decided by the House-Senate conference. 
 
 If he had been following his own advice, McCain would have broken with McConnell and voted against the motion. If the motion had failed, the Republican leadership would have had little choice but to start talks with the Democrats about patching up the Obamacare insurance exchanges and, perhaps, making modest changes to Medicaid. Indeed, earlier this month, after McConnell’s repeal-and-replace bill failed to garner the support of fifty-one Republicans, Lamar Alexander, the chairman of the Senate health committee, announced plans to convene bipartisan hearings on ways to stabilize the individual-insurance markets. Now that McConnell’s motion has passed, such plans are in abeyance. 
 
 To be sure, this is only an interim victory for the Republican leadership: the ultimate outcome of their repeal efforts remains uncertain. Even if McConnell succeeds in punting the ball over to a House-Senate conference, the full Senate will eventually have to vote on a final piece of legislation, which will have specific terms that can be analyzed and discussed. Getting a final bill passed won’t be easy. 
 
 For now, though, the G.O.P. campaign against Obamacare is still alive, and it owes its life to subterfuge. In the House, Speaker Paul Ryan managed to assemble a majority for his bill only by persuading his colleagues that any flaws it contained would be fixed in the Senate. That didn’t happen. Instead, McConnell now wants to abdicate the Senate’s deliberative responsibilities and kick things back to the House. 
 
 As McCain noted, these “responsibilities are important, vitally important, to the continued success of our Republic. And our arcane rules and customs are deliberately intended to require broad coöperation to function well at all. The most revered members of this institution accepted the necessity of compromise in order to make incremental progress on solving America’s problems and to defend her from her adversaries.” 
 
 For his long record of service to the country, his bravery, and his acerbic streak, McCain is himself widely revered. It is a great pity, indeed a tragedy, that he and many other Republican senators didn’t act upon his words.
– John McCain's opposition to the latest GOP effort to repeal ObamaCare didn't quite kill the legislation's chances, though it came pretty close. Still, Democrats are taking pains not to declare victory in public or do anything that smacks of gloating, reports Politico. As Democratic Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz tweeted, "This bill is not dead yet. You can relax on October 1. They never let up, and neither can we." (After that date, Democrats will be able to easily kill any repeal effort with a filibuster.) McCain joins Rand Paul as a definite no, meaning Mitch McConnell can't afford one more defection even as Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska both were leaning in that direction. So what next? McConnell isn't saying yet whether he will proceed with a vote on the bill from Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham regardless, reports the Washington Post. If the repeal effort does indeed fail this month, Democrats want to resurrect bipartisan talks aimed at improving ObamaCare, rather than dismantling it. But given the vast differences in ideas on the left and right about what is necessary, the Hill doesn't see much hope for an "era of bipartisanship" on health care. On Friday night, President Trump called McCain's decision "horrible" but suggested that Republicans continue with the vote. “The most we’ll be is one or two votes short,” he said, per the New York Times. "You can’t quit when you have one or two votes short. You can’t do it." Meanwhile, co-author Graham didn't sound too peeved at McCain. "My friendship with @SenJohnMcCain is not based on how he votes but respect for how he’s lived his life and the person he is," he tweeted.