John McCain is now more popular with Democrats than Republicans after his vote to kill the GOP healthcare bill

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August 2, 2017 8:19 PM

John McCain now has a net +56% approval rating with Democrats and a net -10% approval rating with Republicans after his healthcare vote.

John McCain (Arizona)

John McCain is enjoying high levels of approval from many voters — just not those in his own party.

McCain's vote, along with fellow Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, helped kill the Republican push to overhaul the US healthcare system last week. And it appears Democrats now appreciate the Arizona senator much more than Republicans.

A new Quinnipiac poll showed 39% of Republican voters held a positive view of McCain and 49% held a negative view. By contrast, Democratic voters hold a 74% positive view of McCain compared to 18% negative, for a plus-56 net rating.

Overall, the poll showed McCain has a net plus-25 favorability rating from all people surveyed — 57% positive to 32% negative.

McCain's return to Washington just a week after announcing a brain cancer diagnosis helped Republicans bring their various Obamacare repeal plans to the floor of the Senate for a vote. McCain voted for a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare called the Better Care Reconciliation Act, but against both a repeal-only and "skinny" repeal bill.

The vote against the "skinny" repeal bill sank the Republican hopes of getting any sort of legislation passed.

McCain argued the bill would not bring down costs or improve care for Americans. He also criticized the party-line approach the GOP used to try to pass the bill.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the skinny repeal bill would have resulted in 16 million more uninsured Americans by 2026 than under the current baseline.

Collins and Murkowski have also gotten approval following their votes. Collins was applauded in the airport upon her return to Maine, while more than 200 people showed up for a "Thank You Lisa" rally in Alaska for Murkowski.

Lawmakers have begun considering bipartisan approaches to shoring up Obamacare marketplaces instead of trying to overhaul the law.

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