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97 Judicature 179 (2013-2014)
Presidential Rhetoric: Toward the Supreme Court

handle is hein.journals/judica97 and id is 179 raw text is: PRESIDENTIAL RHETORIC Toward the Supreme Court The authors introduce new data on the intensity and tone of presidential rhetoric toward the Supreme Court from 1929-2011, analyze the determinants of aggregate rhetoric, and discuss ways these data can aid in the study of executive-judicial relations. by BETHANY BLACKSTONE and GREG GOELZHAUSER Responding to a question about how he would guarantee health care to the uninsured if the Supreme Court invalidated the Affordable Care Act, President Obama said in part: Ultimately, I'm confident that the Supreme Court will not take what would be an unprecedented, extraor- dinary step of overturning a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress.' Many perceived President Obama's remarks as an attack on the Court. House Judiciary Committee Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX) criticized Presi- dent Obama for threatening [and] trying to intimidate the Supreme Court,' for example, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suggested that President Obama aimed to delegitimize the Court.' After the Supreme Court upheld the core of the Affordable Care Act in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney suggested that Presi- dent Obama was trying in every way he possibly could to signal that if the Supreme Court didn't go along with him on Obamacare that it would be a very conflict-filled summer, and he got what he wanted.s President Obama's rhetori- cal attack on the Supreme Court is not unprecedented. President Jackson famously delivered a lengthy message vetoing a rechartering of Thanks to Paul Collins, Matthew Eshbaugh- Soha, Robert Hume, and participants at the 2012 annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association for helpful feedback. 1. President Barack Obama, News Confer- ence with President Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa of Mexico and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada (April 2, 2012). 2. Alicia M. Cohn, GOP Lawmaker Warns Obama Against Threatening the Supreme Court, The Hill: Blog Briefing Room (Apr. 3,2012, 12:30 PM), http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/ news/219633-gop-congressman-warns-obama- not-to-intimidate-supreme-court-on-health- care-decision-, 3. Ed O'Keefe, Mitch McConnell to Obama: Back Off the Supreme Court, 2CHAMBERS: INSIDE THE 112TH CONGRESS (Apr. 5, 2012, 3:39 PM), http:// www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chambers/ post/mitch-mcconnell-to-obama-back-off-the- supreme-court/2012/04/05/glQAoc2vxS blog. html. 4. 132 S. Ct. 2566 (2012). 5. Henry J. Reske & Ronald Kessler, Romney: Obama Comments Pressured Supreme Court, NEWSMAX, June 29, 2012. WWW.AJS.ORG 1 JUDCATJRE 179

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