Group hammers Thompson on health care mandate - WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports

MADISON (WKOW) -- A national conservative group hammers Republican Senate candidate Tommy Thompson on the eve of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the health care overhaul law.

On Wednesday, the Club for Growth circulated a 2006 video clip of Thompson voicing his support for mandating that people have health insurance. Thompson has since disavowed the mandate, which is a key part of the Affordable Care Act, as not practical.

In the 2006 clip, Thompson says that "just like automobile insurance, you gotta have coverage. And if you're gonna be able to cover the uninsured you're gonna have to have some degree of a mandate to cover the uninsured."

Thompson campaign spokesman Darrin Schmitz says Thompson opposes the mandate and that saying otherwise is a distortion of his record.