I confess that there is the possibility that this will actually hurt obama in the election, but time will tell. It is like a complicated chess game and the results of single moves are not always immediately apparent.
Though this is a bit like sacrificing your queen.
Regardless of that, the reason why I think Romney and Boehner wanted the whole bill upheld is that they were scared, if it looked like a Republican victory, that voters would be directed to them to propose/pass an alternative at least for the freebee stuff. They dont want that.
Obama’ appearing to score a big victory could play either way, Americans love a winner, but as health care costs go up he will continue to get the blame.