President Obama Finds out about SCOTUS Health Care Ruling Just Like You

President Obama won't be getting an early heads up on the Supreme Court's ruling on the constitutionality of the health care law, and will be finding out with the rest of the world.

It's a remarkable feat that the nine-member court and staff are able to keep such a monumental decision secret, especially in a town full of leaks when dribbles of information and so-called "trial-balloon" ideas regularly hit newspapers, blogs and twitter these days.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked Wednesday that it's probably surprising or skeptical to Americans that the president wouldn't be privy to special access to the information.

"We turn on televisions and radios and computers, and watch SCOTUS blog," Carney said. About it being in a city prone to leaks, he said, "I think anybody who covers the Supreme Court knows that it's pretty airtight. And it is perhaps anachronistic, or not, but that's a fact. And so, we all will await the decision and learn of it at the same time that you do."

Reporters who regularly cover the Supreme Court will be scouring through documents at the court and listening to the opinion being read in person. With no cameras or audio feed, it's one of the more old-fashioned and traditional forms of getting out news in Washington.

Many news organizations and government agencies alike click on SCOTUS blog, reported in part by Lyle Denniston, an 81-year old retired sail-boating grandfather of six who has covered the Supreme Court for nearly six decades. The Washington Post reports that Denniston prides himself in beating everybody else with news of the highest court in the land.

Normally his live blog will get about 1,500 lawyers scouring his info, but got a spike within the last week to nearly 100,000 by Monday, when there was anticipation the health care ruling would come then the Post reports. The blog is not officially sanctioned by the court, was co-founded by Tom Goldstein and is run by the law firm Goldstein & Russell.

The Supreme Court's ruling is expected to have a huge impact on the 2012 election, both for presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney and the president. Romney has campaigned against the president's plan, but also in a tricky spot given that he was governor in Massachusetts when they passed a state plan that the White House regularly says they took parts of to model their plan.

Already Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina sent an e-mail Thursday morning to supporters trying to rally support, "We don't know what will happen this morning. But no matter what, today is an important day to have Barack Obama's back.  If you're with him, donate now -- before this week's critical fundraising deadline," the e-mail read.

The court could strike down all the plan, uphold all of it, or allow some parts.

The ruling is expected to include several hundreds of pages with a final word of the ruling around 1015am ET.