Reflections on the SCOTUS decision

Most conservatives are disappointed with today's Supreme Court ruling on Obamacare. But a couple hours of reflection have given me a different outlook, and I see a real silver lining in what appears to be a dark cloud.

The timing of the decision - just 20 weeks before a national election - and the high profile of the health care issue itself now create an simple, understandable framework for November.

With this decision, the campaign is no longer about Bain Capital, Solyndra, Eric Holder's criminal behavior, where the Romney family's dog rode on vacation or what commies Obama hung out with in Chicago. It's about Obamacare, and every voter can now look directly at two dramatically different choices:

A) Do you want a larger, more intrusive government that will take control of one of the most intimate decisions of your life, i.e. your health care? Do you want to be taxed at a much higher rate, with ever-increasing deficits? Or,

B) Do you want a President and Congress dedicated to repealing Obamacare and all of the corresponding bureaucracy, leaving the major driver of the health care industry to be the free market?

It's really that simple, and I welcome the opportunity to do battle in the marketplace of ideas. I was never totally sold on the idea of the Supreme Court striking down Obamacare, because it seemed too much like a tactic of the left. For nearly a century, the lefties have been taking their policy defeats and turning them into court cases. Abortion and gay marriage are two of the most flagrant examples of the left using unelected, unaccountable judges to win policy debates that they could never win with the general public.

I'd much rather win in the court of public opinion, and that's the opportunity in front of us this fall. If you want Obamacare, then you re-elect Obama, Amy Klobuchar and congressional buffoons like Keith Ellison.

If you want it repealed, then you have to vote for Romney, Kurt Bills and - in my district - John Kline.

There are similar examples in Minnesota's proposed constitutional amendments on Voter ID and gay marriage. Regardless of how you feel on those issues, it's kind of refreshing to have a chance to vote directly on them. I never understood why the gay marriage folks were so opposed to having the vote, since they seem so confident of winning. If you think more than 50% of Minnesotans support your position, why wouldn't you want to give those people a chance to express that opinion?

Candidates like to frame every election as "a choice between two dramatically different visions" or some such cliche, but it's rarely true. This November, the choice actually IS quite clear.

Do you want Obamacare, or do you want it repealed?

The choice is yours, American people, and I'm more than happy to live with your decision.