Republicans are still campaigning on repealing ObamaCare after 2016

Republican lawmakers have been promising to repeal the Affordable Care Act since before it was signed into law in 2010, despite President Obama winning reelection in 2012 and the conservative Supreme Court ruling twice in the law's favor against conservative challenges. After the second of those high-court affirmations on Thursday, Republicans are still vowing to repeal and replace ObamaCare, though not until after the next election.

"We'll continue to pick away at the law," said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). "But ultimately our goal is to repeal and replace, and that's not going to be possible until after the 2016 elections." Barrasso had been working on a plan to advance GOP goals if the Supreme Court had ruled against the law's federal health insurance subsidies. "It's going to be one of the most important, if not the most important, debating points for 2016," added Rep. John Fleming (R-La.). RNC chairman Reince Priebus added: "Today's ruling makes it clear that if we want to fix our broken healthcare system, then we will need to elect a Republican president."

Not all Republican officeholders are publicly advocating for continuing the quest to bring down the law, and the GOP can't decide on what they would propose to replace it with. But The Associated Press suggests one reason Republicans, especially those running for president, are still calling to repeal ObamaCare: The law is still wildly unpopular among Republicans. According to an April poll from AP-GfK, 71 percent of Republicans oppose ObamaCare. But the same poll also suggests the limits of the GOP's repeal call: Only 33 percent of independents and 14 percent of Democrats oppose ObamaCare.

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