It's important to understand that there was no downside to voicing dissent. Politics is about convincing people to vote for a bill, which is a time and resource intensive process. Obamacare, for instance, literally made sweetheart deals with some Senators to get their vote
President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform proposal released Monday eliminates controversial funds given to Nebraska as part of a deal to win the support of centrist Sen. Ben Nelson (D).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) offered the $100 million in Medicaid funding, also known as the “Cornhusker Kickback,” to Nelson to help win him over* as the 60th vote on the Senate’s healthcare reform bill last December.
Nelson claims that it was just in there as a placeholder.
There was no such dealing on this. In fact, the time frame was incredibly short (just a few weeks) compared to most legislation of this scope. Speaker Ryan was only going to allow one amendment to the bill to fix changes brought up by various people. And then President Trump issued an ultimatum, which may have been a way for Trump to walk away from the bill
So, now that Republicans have pulled the AHCA, does the loss undermine President Trump’s self-proclaimed proficiency at the negotiating table? Not so, says Erez Yoeli, a research scientist at Harvard’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, who argues that President Trump was in an almost impossible position. He could either pass the Ryan-designed bill, which overwhelmingly hurts his constituents, or he could risk his reputation as a tough negotiator by continuing to whittle away at the AHCA, trying to appease both moderates and extreme conservatives. In the face of such a dilemma, Yoeli says, Trump has more to gain walking away. That is, as long as he doesn’t ultimately go back on his word to punish Republicans for their inaction by leaving Obamacare in place.