He was as well (as I look at his Wikipedia entry) but he used his position to get extra Medicare money for Nebraska, which was derisively referred to as the "Cornhusker Kickback". Events conspired to move the bill to reconciliation, and with him no longer necessary, the kickback was deleted.

But Max Baucus of Montana was instrumental in removing a public option in early stages of the negotiation and writing, which he said later was a mistake.