Will SCOTUS healthcare ruling be the end of Obama(care) era?

I’m beginning to understand why our fearless leader President Barack Obama doesn’t think too highly of the U.S. Supreme Court.

I used to think Obama simply dislikes anyone with the audacity to disagree with him, but now, oh wait, no, that is all it is.

He really detests when people oppose him or his ideas, especially, it seems, if they wear a robe.

Maybe he always wanted to be in their elite legal club. Who knows?

But on-going SCOTUS v. POTUS feud aside, I’m left perplexed by two recent rulings the justices rendered, Arizona immigration law and healthcare, which took up the majority of the news cycle since news broke last Thursday morning until, well, I’m not sure the conversation will really ever die down.

In the moments immediately following the decision, everyone who’s anyone took to the airwaves, news sites, Facebook, Twitter, you name it to render an opinion on the ruling.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who sided with his liberal counterparts in not bucking the individual mandate, was also a hot topic—perhaps more so than the decision.

Let’s just say it’s a good thing justices don’t have to be re-appointed or re-elected because Roberts, a W-appointee, wouldn’t stand a chance. As far as party politics are concerned, let’s just say Roberts won’t be headlining any major political fundraisers anytime soon.

But is it too early whether to say on which side of history Roberts will find himself?

Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, very much benefited from the ruling. Immediately following the ruling he vowed to repeal Obamacare, as it’s been not-so-affectionately dubbed.

And as soon as he did, the money began to flow. And flow it did, through the following day, through the weekend and well into this week.

This begs another question. Think past the coming weeks. Think forward to November.

So I offer you this political food for thought: In siding with the liberal justices by not bucking the individual mandate, did Roberts guarantee Romney a de facto win over Obama in November?

Roberts’ ruling re-invigorated the GOP base to circa 2010 energy levels. They’ll turn out.

The very Republicans who have been saying over and over and over that Romney was not conservative enough, are throwing money at his campaign. They’ll rally for him, if for no other reason that to repeal Obamacare.

Romney already has the economy as the ace up his sleeve. Until the healthcare ruling I thought the economy would prove to be Obama’s Achilles’ heel, but now I think it might just be healthcare.

Had Roberts sided with the conservative judges, they would have been able to dissect portions of the bill. Now, if Romney were to defeat Obama and win in November, a full-scale healthcare overhaul is on the horizon. If that doesn’t rally the conservative base, I don’t know what does.

In everything that’s happened during Obama’s historic but tumultuous four years as president, it might just be SCOTUS that proves to be his undoing.

November was going to be close before this ruling. But the tide has shifted.

The upper hand now belongs to Romney, and it will be his race to lose.

Caroline Curran is a staff writer and columnist at The Brunswick Beacon. Reach her at 754-6890 or ccurran@brunswickbeacon.com. Follow her on Twitter at @cgcurran.