Obama hails Supreme Court ruling but downplays politics

— -- With the Supreme Court largely upholding his health care law, President Obama celebrated the ruling while attempting to downplay its political implications.

In a seven-minute statement from the White House East Room on Thursday, Obama hailed the narrow decision that upheld the individual mandate — the requirement that Americans buy insurance or pay a penalty, largely considered to be the glue of the Affordable Care Act— and most of the law. The penalty would be $695 for an individual in 2016, the first year it will be fully in effect, and $2,085 for a family, or 2.5% of household income, whichever is larger.

While Republicans immediately blasted the decision as amounting to a huge tax hike on middle-class Americans, Obama said focusing on the political ramifications of the decision was misplaced.

"Whatever the politics, today's decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure," Obama said.

Before Obama spoke, Democratic and Republican party officials and lawmakers signaled that they will keep the debate over health care at the center of conversation as the presidential campaign heats up.

Likely GOP nominee Mitt Romney called the Affordable Care Act "bad policy" and "bad law."

"What the court did not do on the last day of its session, I will do on the first day of my presidency," Romney said.

The Romney campaign said it received a surge of contributions — about $300,000 — in the first hour after the Supreme Court decision was announced. The conservative group Americans For Prosperity also announced they would launch a $9 million television advertising blitz in 16 states on Friday highlighting their opposition to the law.

The president noted that he initially was hesitant to embrace the individual mandate, but that it "enjoyed support from members of both parties, including the current Republican nominee for president." Romney supported the individual mandate as governor of Massachusetts, but says he opposes such a mandate being implemented by the federal government.

Obama called on his GOP adversaries to accept the court's decision.

"We will continue to improve the law as we can, but … we will not go back," Obama said.

The president has good reason to offer measured remarks after a huge victory for his signature piece of legislation: 52% of Americans surveyed in an ABC News/Washington Post poll last week said they have an "unfavorable impression" of the health care law.

"If conservatives are to realize their hopes of repealing the Affordable Care Act, the electoral process is their only remaining recourse," said William Galston, a Brookings Institution analyst and an adviser in former president Bill Clinton's administration. "Once the dust settles, expect them to mobilize and work even harder for unified government under Republican control. And expect Mitt Romney to wave the bloody shirt all the more vigorously."

In his remarks, Obama also reflected on the ordeal of an Ohio woman, Natoma Canfield, fighting cancer who dropped her health insurance because of rising premiums. The White House and the president repeatedly noted her situation as a call to action during the health care reform debate in 2010.

"It should be clear by now that I didn't do this because it was good politics," Obama said. "I did it because it was it good for the country."

Before his celebratory remarks Thursday, Obama had briefly thought the mandate was struck down after seeing initial television reports, according to a senior administration official. Less than two minutes later, White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler alerted the president of the correct ruling, the official said.