In 2006 Video, Romney Calls Health Care Mandate 'Essential' On the eve of the Supreme Court's health care ruling Thursday morning, a Democratic group has uncovered what it said was fresh evidence of Mitt Romney's one-time embrace of the individual insurance mandate that he now scorns. Video of Mr. Romney from a March 2006 news conference when he was governor of Massachusetts shows the presumptive Republican nominee praising the passage of an individual mandate in the legislature as an "essential" part of the reforms he advocated. "With regards to the individual mandate, the individual responsibility program that I proposed, I was very pleased that the compromise between the two houses includes the personal responsibility mandate," he says in the video, which was found by the group American Bridge 21st Century. Mr. Romney has acknowledged his support for a mandate in the Massachusetts health plan, but he says he does not believe it is the right approach for the federal system. He regularly condemns the mandate as top-down, government-run health care and vows to repeal it if the court does not strike it down. But the video is another stark reminder that Mr. Romney is not the ideal candidate to do battle with the president on the health care issue - a charge that Mr. Romney's Republican rivals regularly lodged against him during the primaries this year. In crafting the Affordable Care Act, President Obama and his Democratic allies argued that the individual mandate - originally an idea put forth by conservatives - was a key part of broadening the financial risks for insurance companies and lowering the costs for the insured. In the video released Wednesday night, Mr. Romney appears to share that view, at least as it relates to the Massachusetts plan. The individual mandate, he said, "is essential for bringing the health care costs down for everyone and getting everyone the health insurance they need." Mr. Romney's position on the mandate might be moot within a few hours. If the court declares it to be unconstitutional, the mandate will quickly cease to be a central part of the political debate. But if the court upholds Mr. Obama's approach, the Democratic candidate will most likely continue to point to Mr. Romney's history in Massachusetts as evidence of a shifting position on the necessity and desirability of an individual mandate. That issue could return with a vengeance during the debates between the two men in October.