How ‘Mandate’ Became Republican Candidates’ Scarlet Letter (Bloomberg)

The debate over the individual mandate has been heated for a good 12 months now, but it has taken on new life in the Republican presidential primary campaign. Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Mitt Romney aren’t talking much about how the mandate will function or whether it is constitutional. What they are focusing on is who among them once supported it. The truth is that both Romney and Gingrich have supported the measure in the past, Romney quite recently under his Massachusetts health reform bill; Gingrich as a vocal opponent to HillaryCare in the early ’90s. But, party supporters have to ask, does it really matter? Shouldn’t we be talking about the real issue at hand — health care — instead of pointing fingers?