Campaign impact: Obama, Romney seize on ruling

"Today's decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure," Obama declared after a divided high court upheld the law, including a requirement that people carry health insurance. "It's time for us to move forward."

Romney did just the opposite, pinning the court's decision to the election and asking voters to render their own ruling.

"If we want to get rid of Obamacare," he said, "we're going to have replace President Obama."

Democrats and Republicans immediately launched fundraising appeals off the court's decision, underscoring the campaign ramifications of a judicial decision that is supposed to be devoid of politics. It was conservative Chief Justice John Roberts who cast the defining vote, upending the traditional lines of political attack and surprising many in the White House.

The outcome was a clear personal win for Obama, who has staked much of his presidency and legacy on the law. But Republicans were emboldened that it would cost him, given that the law as a whole remains unpopular and that the insurance mandate was deemed by the court to be a tax — a term never popular in an election year.

Neither Obama nor Romney knew what the ruling would be.

So what unfolded was a dramatic, unscripted moment in a campaign that has had few of them.

At first, Obama thought the worst.

Watching a bank of television monitors outside the Oval Office, Obama saw urgent but erroneous cable news reports that the individual mandate has been shot down.

But the White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler, knew otherwise and flashed the president two thumbs up. After she explained the justices' bottom-line ruling, the president gave her a hug.

Across the White House, where anticipation had been intense, the mood was more relief and satisfaction than roaring celebration.

Obama sought to strike that tone as he spoke from a lectern in the East Room, trying to steer the conversation toward the ways he said the law is helping millions of Americans.