Originally Posted by Politico
Ahead of the vote, the bill*s Republican sponsors and outside anti-abortion groups lobbying for its passage made it clear that the intent of Monday*s vote was to undermine the growing pool of Senate Democrats running for president.
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"This bill is important in itself but it*s also important as a setup for the coming election, where there will be a stark contrast between the president of the United States and any one of the Democratic nominees," SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in an interview. She stood just outside the Senate chamber lobbying senators as they entered to cast their votes.
Sanders, Harris, Warren, Booker and Gillibrand all voted against the measure. Sherrod Brown, another Democratic senator exploring a White House bid, complained to POLITICO that the vote was held in bad faith.
"This is pure Mitch McConnell. It's all aimed at keeping his base in line, while the president grows increasingly unpopular," the Ohio Democrat said. "We're not doing infrastructure, we're not doing health care. We're not doing anything that matters to help our country. It's just votes on abortion and other kinds of divisive votes he's going to bring."