Historic healthcare vote marked with colorful moments

It wasn't all just ayes and nays during the Senate's vote to pass the $871 billion healthcare reform overhaul on Thursday morning.

Several senators added moments of color during the early Christmas Eve vote.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) elicited perhaps the strongest reaction after he originally voted no on the healthcare reform bill he has crafted and ushered through the Senate for months.

Reid quickly threw up his arms in the air and bowed his head to his podium, drawing a hardy round of laughs from senators in the chamber. It's not clear if Reid's original vote was a mistake or a joke, but Reid said that he spent Wednesday night trying to think of ways to show some bipartisanship.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also got some senators to chuckle during the vote.

The self-described "democratic socialist" who criticized of the bill afterthe removal of the public option, originally did not show up to vote. Sanders later ran into the chamberin the middle of the vote. When the Senate clerk again called his name again, he voted with a resounding "yes." 

The late Sen.Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), considered by many to be the godfather of healthcare reform, received several mentions from senators on the floor.

Reid duing his final floor remarks said that many senators could hear Kenney's voice "ringing" in their ears.

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), one of Kennedy's closest friends in the Senate, when rising to vote yes said "Mr. President, this is for my friend Ted Kennedy, aye."   

The colorful moments were not limited to the Senate floor.

At a press conference after the vote, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Reid the "three horsemen of this bill."

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