Consider this.
Ezra Klein: The Political Genius of John Roberts
By voting with the liberals to uphold the Affordable Care Act, Roberts has put himself above partisan reproach. No one can accuse Roberts of ruling as a movement conservative. Hes made himself bulletproof against insinuations that hes animated by party allegiances.
But by voting with the conservatives on every major legal question before the court, he nevertheless furthered the major conservative projects before the court namely, imposing limits on federal power. And by securing his own reputation for impartiality, he made his own advocacy in those areas much more effective. If, in the future, Roberts leads the court in cases that more radically constrain the federal governments power to regulate interstate commerce, todays decision will help insulate him from criticism. And he did it while rendering a decision that Democrats are applauding.
Similar article here
Chief Justice Roberts Is A Genius
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2900590/posts
Screw his "reputation." This isn't suppose to be a popularity contest.