Mitt Romney For President, The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling on Thursday to uphold the country’s sweeping health care overhaul affected the presidential race almost immediately, with President Obama praising the decision as a landmark boon that will help all Americans and Mitt Romney pledging to make repeal his first priority as president.

How voters respond to those contradictory*n*lyses could determine who wins the election.

“They have reaffirmed a fundamental principle,” Obama said of the high court. “Here in America, in the wealthiest nation on earth, no illness or accident should lead to any family’s financial ruin.”

In the brief remarks at the White House, Obama also touched on the decision’s electoral implications.

“Whatever the politics, today’s decision was a victory for people all over this country,” the president said. “Thanks to today’s decision, all of these benefits and protections will continue.”

Obama added, “What the country cannot afford to do is re-fight the political battles of two years ago or go back to the way things were.”

Minutes earlier, Romney renewed his pledge to repeal the law.

“What the court did not do on its last day in session, I will do on my first day if elected president of the United States,” Romney said from a rooftop on Constitution Avenue in Washington, with the US Capitol in the background. “And that is I will act to repeal Obamacare.”

Romney’s campaign said it raised $1.1 million from more than 9,500 donors within hours of the ruling. (Boston)