**Written by Doug Powers

Well, the Democrats got more of the one-way “bipartisanship” they love from Republicans. Nancy Pelosi thanked three GOP senators in particular:

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) thanked the three GOP senators who broke with their party to kill the Senate’s bill to repeal ObamaCare during a vote early Friday morning.

In a press conference Friday, Pelosi thanked Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) for breaking with their party and standing up to the Trump administration.

“I want to thank Senator McCain for establishing a higher level of participation as to how we should proceed,” Pelosi said Friday, referencing McCain’s return from Arizona, where he was diagnosed with brain cancer last week, to vote against the bill.

“To Senators Murkowski, Collins and McCain, thank you for hearing the voices of the families,” Pelosi added.

Chuck Schumer was effusive in his praise for McCain, as well as Murkowski and Collins. Schumer compared the Arizona senator to Ted Kennedy and said that by helping the Dems keep Obama’s signature law McCain entered the pantheon of great legislators:

“And the credit goes to a lot of people, but at the top of the list are the three who showed amazing courage to resist the pressure and do what’s good for the country. John McCain at the top of the list,” Schumer, who hugged McCain after the vote, said. “He and I have been friends for a very long time, ever since the Gang of Eight which we put together. And I have not seen a senator who speaks truth to power as strongly, as well and as frequently as John McCain. The very same courage he showed as a naval aviator in Vietnam, he showed last night and has shown time and time again. He’s just a wonderful man. I treasure his friendship and just the fact of knowing him.”

“I’ve known a few great men in the Senate. I’d put Ted Kennedy in that category and Danny Inouye. And I’d put John McCain in that category too,” he added. “And certainly not to be forgotten, of equal praise are Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. They were amazing. And women are in so many instances stronger than men. They brag less about it, but they are. And last night sort of proved that.”

Schumer loves any pol who speaks “truth to power,” as long as the “power” is not the Democrats.

One more thing…

John McCain last year:

John McCain early Friday morning:

So much for the effectiveness of the “stand by your ad” provision in McCain-Feingold.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe