Ohio attorney general: Health care political battle

CINCINNATI - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine predicted Thursday that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling upholding the heart of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul will make the law the predominant issue of the fall presidential campaign in the pivotal state.

DeWine, a Republican, also told The Associated Press that the state will continue to be part of a lawsuit disputing the health care law on the grounds it compels people to violate their religious principles.

"This matter will now be fought out in the political arena, again," DeWine said. "It makes this issue the pre-eminent issue of the presidential campaign ... people will have the ability this fall to do what the United States Supreme Court would not do today, and that is to repeal Obamacare."

The race between Obama and Republican Mitt Romney is expected to be close in Ohio, a swing state likely to be crucial to Romney's chances of winning the general election.

Ohioans voted against the overhaul's mandated coverage in a largely symbolic referendum last year, and statewide polls this year continue to indicate most Ohioans are opposed to the health care law.

"It gives Romney a target if Ohioans continue to not like the health care law," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

Brown said the decision was a boost to Obama's re-election campaign because it allowed his signature legislation to stand. He said some Ohioans might now think the law is acceptable since it has been to the Supreme Court, but it's too soon to tell.

"Over the next four months, the question is can Romney essentially make lemonade out of lemons," Brown said in an interview. "And that's really the unknown question."

Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, a Democrat, applauded the ruling and said it will lead to expanded community health services, access to coverage for the uninsured, and for sick people with preexisting conditions.

"This is a victory for the American people," Coleman said in a statement.

More than 1.5 million Ohioans are uninsured, or some 14 percent of the population. Republican Gov. John Kasich's administration hasn't moved to create a health care exchange, saying it has been evaluating options and seeking more clarity from the Obama administration.

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner pledged to seek repeal of the health care law in its entirety. Republican Rep. Mike Turner said the overhaul would increase costs for businesses and families and stifle job creation.

DeWine said opponents of the law scored a victory when justices did not expand the Commerce Clause, an outcome that DeWine says would have made Congress' power virtually unlimited.

"While we have lost the battle in regards to Obamacare, we did win the war in regards to the true meaning of the Commerce Clause," DeWine said.