The court's affirming of
the Affordable Care Act has angered and pumped up conservatives even
more to repeal Obamacare. But are they now at full-throttle enthusiasm
for a Romney presidency?
The answer: No.
"I think that people are
fired up (after the court ruling)," said Brendan Steinhauser, director
of state and federal campaigns for national tea party booster
FreedomWorks.
"I think that we
understand the importance now of beating Barack Obama. Romney is the
candidate. So I think this helps him. But I don't want to mistake that
for being a huge groundswell of support for Romney as much as it a huge
stand in opposition to Barack Obama."
Romney: I'll do what justices didn't
Obama: This is a victory for the people
Bachmann: Don't implement Obamacare
Romney's health care response
Billie Tucker, a well-known figure in Florida's tea party movement, was more blunt.
Activists will support
the former Massachusetts governor, she said, "not because they love
Romney -- because (tea partiers) haven't gotten the love from the Romney
people either.
"But the reality is: he
has promised to repeal (the health care law)," Tucker said. "He's not
our candidate, but he's the candidate. So we have to help the candidate
get elected."
Tea partiers have long
viewed Romney with skepticism. Since its birth in 2009, the movement has
advanced staunchly conservative principles and worked to elect
like-minded candidates instead of what they deem as "RINOs" (Republicans
in Name Only).
Many of them view Romney as such a political creature -- claiming he repeatedly flip-flopped during his term as governor.
Romney and his supporters have long denied that assertion.
Arguably, tea partiers'
biggest frustration with Romney is the Massachusetts health care bill he
signed into law as governor. Like Obamacare, that signature legislation
-- dubbed "Romneycare" by some -- contained an individual mandate
compelling citizens to buy health insurance or face a penalty.
Romney has argued that
the Massachusetts health care law was a unique fix for his state -- not
one to be duplicated on the national level.
But the similarities
between the two plans are a primary reason why tea partiers say they
will not be all that enthusiastic about voting for Romney in November.
Photos: Health care and the high court
"I think that it's very
clear that to get rid of Obamacare, you're going to have to have a
different president," said Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea
Party Patriots -- the nation's largest tea party group.
When asked if the
Patriots' activists will stump hard on Romney's behalf, Martin said,
"We're not doing that. The campaign for Romney will do that, I suppose.
And the Republican Party will go do that."
As Martin pointed out,
though her group advocates the election of staunch fiscal and
constitutional conservatives -- the Patriots don't specifically endorse
political candidates.
"I think most people
that I've talked to in Indiana say, 'Yes, we'll definitely vote for
Romney,'" said Greg Fettig, co-founder of the Indiana tea party group
Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate.
"We won't like it as well as if it could have been someone else. But, you know, he's infinitely better than Obama."
Fettig said Indiana tea
partiers were "stunned" to learn of the Supreme Court's decision,
likening it to "an all-out war." And activists have resolved themselves
to "unseat as many Democrats as we can."
Yet Fettig added: "There
are some people disappointed with Romney. But they know, at this point,
we'll take him -- we'll hope to mold him into more of our liking. But
if not, we'll have to take some incremental steps there and then hope,
next time around, we get a more conservative president."
Fettig said some tea
partiers have talked about voting on principle -- potentially writing in
other candidate names on the presidential ballot.
"If you do that, you've given a vote to Barack Obama," Fettig said.
Christina Kbo, a
strategist for the National Tea Party Federation, said, "(The Supreme
Court decision) makes November 6 all the more critical," citing
increased energy toward conservative get-out-the-vote operations.
Kbo cited a conference
call among many activists on Thursday after the Supreme Court decision.
While there was mention of helping Romney, Kbo said: "If you had been on
the call, you probably would have been very shocked to hear that
Romney's name didn't really come up that much."
"This is bigger than the
presidency ... this is about the future of the country. And we have to
focus on sound candidates and support those candidates to office not
only at the presidential level but at the Senate, the House, the
governors, the state senate, the mayor -- the entire ticket."
To be sure, Romney does
have staunch supporters within the tea party movement. After withdrawing
from the GOP presidential race, Michele Bachmann endorsed Romney. On
Thursday, the Minnesota congresswoman told Fox News, "This was my
signature issue when I ran for president. But I will tell you that Mitt
Romney has told me on more than one occasion, looking in my eyes,
'Michelle, I will repeal Obamacare.'"
Also, how much
enthusiasm tea partiers have for Romney may matter little. Because they
are galvanized against the president, they could increase conservative
turnout at the polls, likely boosting Romney's chances.
But should Romney win the White House, he will still have to look over his shoulder for wary tea party activists.
"I think people on our
side view Mitt Romney as someone who is a politician who had the
ambition to get elected to office as a governor, as a senator and now as
the president," Steinhauser said. "And we don't know what's in his
heart. We don't know what his ideas really are. He has changed positions
a lot. And tea partiers look at the health care mandate in
Massachusetts and they didn't like it."
Given that concern,
Steinhauser said tea partiers would "absolutely" hold Romney accountable
for overturning Obamacare should he win the White House.
"The way you do that is by taking over the Senate and making sure that the candidates you elect ... we (also) hold t
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