Yes, naysayers, President Obama and the Democrats can win by losing the Supreme Court case on the Affordable Health Act. How?
#1 - Losing this case will take away the GOP's primary talking point in their campaign against President Obama... REPEALING 'OBAMACARE'! Where will Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum go if the Supreme Court does the job they both claim they will make a priority if they are elected president? And for Romney, with the economy steadily improving, the repeal of so-called "Obamacare" will leave him desperately trying to find another reason for Independents to rally around him. Good luck with that! You have to think this was at least a part of the Obama administration's thinking when they put this law on the fast track to the Supreme Court in an election year. And what about the Republican talking point of "personal responsibility"? Isn't that the entire basis behind the Affordable Care Act? The notion that everyone should have some responsibility for their own healthcare? The thought that no one else's taxes should go towards paying for your healthcare when you visit the emergency room (which is what happens now)? The Republicans are all for personal responsibility when it comes to kicking grandma and grandpa off Medicaid and Medicare, but millions of able-bodied individuals showing up in hospitals in need of emergency care with no insurance -- that's okay. Yeah, right.
#2 - Yet another 5-4 'conservative'-leaning decision on a controversial case will surely galvanize Obama supporters and Democrats like nothing else could. What better case for re-electing President Obama than to make it clear to American voters that whomever is elected president in 2012 will surely appoint at least one, if not two, Supreme Court justices in the next four years... and if you like what Bush v. Gore, Citizens United and having no affordable health care has brought you thus far, then you'll absolutely love what Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum's Supreme Court justice picks will help bring down the pipe in the next 10-20 years! Right now, most Americans want to throw up at the thought of what Citizens United is doing to our political system and the knowledge that the law was brought to us by basically this same court will help President Obama in his quest to deny another conservative judge on this already suspiciously right-wing-esque Supreme Court.
#3 - Those who think a defeat by the Supreme Court will look bad for President Obama simply have not been paying attention the last two years. I actually think the Supreme Court overturning yet another law will make moderates and independents take further notice of how this majority conservative court is once again over-stepping its bounds and handing yet another victory to the right-wing. If the American people believe that conservatives have the House of Representatives, a good chance of securing the Senate and the Supreme Court, do you really believe that they are going to also give them control of the White House. Not likely! And a negative ruling on this case would be just the reminder that Obama supporters need. And if anyone can spin this, it's Barack Obama and David Plouffe!
Many people have given Barack Obama credit for being a "long-range thinker," so again I ask, do you really think the Obama administration did not know what they were walking into when they chose to fast-track this law to the conservative-leaning Supreme Court? I would bet that in their eyes they figured one of the following would happen: The Supreme Court will uphold the healthcare law... WIN! -OR- the Supreme Court will strike down the healthcare law and take away the Republican candidates' #1 talking point for why they should be elected... WIN! (With the extra added benefit of doing the Democrats' job for them of galvanizing women and the liberal base.)
So just a little history lesson:
Every time in recent memory the conservatives on the Supreme Court have stepped in thinking that they could give an advantage to the Republicans, it has instead ended in catastrophe for them.
~The Supreme Court stepped in and gave George W. Bush the 2000 presidential election... and Republicans (and not to mention our military men and women and our economy) have been paying dearly for it ever since! In fact, many people believe that without a George W. Bush presidency, there would be no President Barack Obama. Chew on that for a second.
~The Supreme Court stepped in and gave us Citizens United... yeah, Republicans, how's that working out for ya so far? Many Republicans, including John McCain, have admitted that the law is probably a mistake and that it is hurting the GOP in the primaries. Think it hurts now, just wait until all this corporate money starts taking over the television sets of middle America with nothing but non-stop negative Obama ads. The one thing Obama has over his rivals is about a 70% 'personal likeability' rating and with that, the barrage of Citizens United-instigated negative ads may even turn some people off (especially independents), sending them directly into Barack Obama's waiting arms... and ballot box.
Now the Supreme Court is about to step in and rule on the health care law. With their track record, I for one am expecting the Canadian health care system to infiltrate our lives and in about 3-5 years, every U.S. citizen will have their own personal nurse and physician and, just for good measure, Texas will legalize gay marriage.
So fret not health care supporters, it looks like the Supreme Court just may be on the way to handing you a bigger win than you thought!