How ‘Mandate’ Became Republican Candidates’ Scarlet Letter: View

Absurdly, a central issue in the Republican presidential primary campaign is not so much the “individual mandate” for health care as which candidates once supported it.

Individual mandates are a requirement that every person carry health insurance -- self-paid, paid by an employer or paid by the government -- and there is nothing heinous about them. What this dispute illustrates is the unflagging opposition that Republican politicians have for President Barack Obama, whose health-care plan features an individual mandate.