June 12, 2012: President Obama speaks at a fundraising reception in Baltimore. (AP)
As the Supreme Court gets ready to announce whether President Barack Obama's heath-care reform is constitutional, some Democrats hope it strikes down the law. They believe bad news for ObamaCare is good political news for Mr. Obama.
Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that half the voters "think the whole thing is political" so if the law is overturned, Republicans "will own" the health-care issue as costs "escalate unbelievably." Democrats can profit at the polls by saying, "We tried, we did something."
But Democrats should be careful what they wish for. ObamaCare is not popular; striking down the law in part or completely is. For example, in the June 5 Fox News poll, only 40% favor the new health-care law while 49% oppose it. Just 30% would prefer the Supreme Court to uphold it, while 21% favor the court striking down the law's individual mandate to buy health insurance at age 26, and 38% want the entire statute declared unconstitutional.
A New York Times/CBS News poll earlier this month was even worse for the law, finding that 34% of Americans support ObamaCare (18% strongly) while 48% disapprove (36% strongly). Only 24% want to keep the entire law while 27% want the individual mandate gone and 41% want the entire law struck down.
To continue reading Mr. Rove's column on ObamaCare and Democrats in the Wall Street Journal, click here.
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