GOP: John Roberts' shift a major boon for Mitt Romney

Contrary to conventional wisdom, an anti-tax backlash over the Supreme Court?s blockbuster decision upholding Obamacare could propel Mitt Romney all the way to the Oval Office, national Republicans said, as irate voters pumped millions into his campaign coffers in the wake of the surprise ruling.

Read the Supreme Court decision here.

Led by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, the high court ruled 5-4 yesterday that Obamacare?s health insurance mandate is constitutional because it is a tax, and Congress has the power to levy. President Obama had originally promised the overhaul wouldn?t tax the middle class, and Republicans quickly seized on the ruling to point out that is exactly what the law does.

?Chief Justice John Roberts has all but gift-wrapped the election for Republicans with this ruling,? said Keith Appell, a GOP consultant based in Washington, D.C. ?Now every single Democrat will have to defend the largest tax increase in American history during a bad economy in an election year.?

Meanwhile, Republicans across the country were mobilizing to ensure the ruling, which would mandate health care coverage for all Americans by 2014, is overturned.

?I think it?s going to play well for Gov. Romney. The emails I?ve received since this ruling came out show that folks are fired up and they want to get involved,? said Glenn A. McCall, a Republican national committeeman in South Carolina.

Who wins, who loses in the Obamacare decision? Join in the Friday Throwdown today at noon.

The decision brought the former Bay State governor a flood of donations, as his campaign said it raked in cash at a rate of nearly $300,000 an hour immediately after the ruling was announced. All told, the Romney Victory Fund took in $2.5 million from 24,000 individuals as of 7 p.m., said spokesman Ryan Williams.

?It?s an extremely significant amount ? one of the largest amounts we?ve received in response to an event that?s occurred during the campaign,? Williams said.

Romney used yesterday?s ruling to draw a sharp contrast with the president.

?If we want to get rid of Obamacare we?re going to have to replace President Obama, and my mission is to make sure we do exactly that,? said Romney. ?Help us defeat Obamacare, help us defeat the liberal agenda.?

However, Marty Connors, the former chairman of the Alabama GOP, said the high court ruling could hurt Romney with independent swing voters.

?The person who calls themselves a moderate or an independent is now capable of manipulation by the Obama administration because they?ll say they have a Supreme Court endorsement,? said Connors.

Gov. Deval Patrick also suggested yesterday that Romney?s role in passing health care reform in Massachusetts would undercut his arguments against the health care overhaul.

Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/view.bg?articleid=1061142246&srvc=rss

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