Tea Leaf? Obama Seems To Signal That He'll Run Against The Court In His Reelection Campaign

Only if you assume he's gotten a heads-up can you make the next assumption, that he's laying down a campaign theme.

Barack Obama suggested that any decision by the US Supreme Court to overturn his landmark healthcare law would send the country “backwards” and that Americans did not want to “re-fight” the battle over healthcare.

It was the first sign that beyond the White House’s staunch defence of the Affordable Care Act Mr Obama is prepared to use the law as a rallying cry on the campaign trail. It is a risky strategy: about half the country remains opposed to the legislation, although most voters like the consumer protections that are guaranteed under the law.

...

In his comments, Mr Obama did not make any explicit references to the court, although he has said in the past that it would be “unprecedented” for the ACA to be overturned.

“The American people fight for what’s right. And the American people understand that we’re not going to make progress by going backwards. We need to go forward,” he said.

Given that the opinion was written a month ago (or so) and is only being withheld for its big Release Date on Thursday, it seems it's a bit late to be "warning" the Court on this.

Since he's not warning the Court, what is he doing?

Announcing a campaign theme?

Romney also seems to be peering into the near-future.

"As you know, the Supreme Court is gonna be dealing with whether or not Obamacare’s constitutional,” said Romney, previewing the court’s decision that is expected to be announced on Thursday.

“If it’s not, if Obamacare is not deemed constitutional, then the first three and a half years of this president’s term will have been wasted on something that has not helped the American people,” said Romney, offering his most scathing review to date of Obama’s tenure should the plan be struck down.

“If it’s not,” Romney went on, “If it is deemed to stand, then I’ll tell you one thing. Then we’ll have to have a president, and I’m that one, that’s gonna get rid of Obamacare.”

Allah thinks he should have waited until he knew the decision's holding -- otherwise, if ObamaCare is upheld, maybe he's saying Obama's first term wasn't a waste.

But I'm wondering. Seriously, I know the Court prides itself on secrecy and rectitude, but hasn't this leaked yet?

If no one in the Court has leaked this, then grab up their personnel and start training them for the CIA.

I'm just getting the feeling that we're the last to know.

posted by Ace at 08:08 PM

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