Mourdock jumps the gun on health care ruling

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INDIANAPOLIS — Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock on Thursday accidentally gave Hoosiers a preview of how he'll respond to the U.S. Supreme Court's pending ruling on the federal health care law.

The Mourdock campaign uploaded a series of videos to YouTube with various reactions ranging from elation to determination to keep fighting the law if the court upholds it. The campaign quickly took them down Thursday.

In them, Mourdock responds to four scenarios, in which the justices either uphold the law, overturn it, uphold portions of the law or give "no answer," as Mourdock puts it.

"Barack Obama and Congressman Joe Donnelly are going to try and have big government make health care even more expensive. That may not be there intention, but that is what will happen," Mourdock says in one clip, addressing a potential ruling in which they uphold pieces of the law.

Mourdock is running against Democratic U.S. Rep. Donnelly for the Senate seat being vacated U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar. Mourdock beat Lugar in last month's Republican primary.

"As the Boy Scouts say, 'Be prepared,'" Mourdock spokesman Chris Conner said of the videos.

Indiana Democrats leapt on the videos Thursday, claiming they prove Mourdock is more interested in scoring political points than dealing with health care troubles.

"Mourdock's pretaped 'Choose Your Own Adventure' style response shows just how cynical he's become in his efforts to hide his tea party past," Indiana Democratic Party spokesman Ben Ray said Thursday.