MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
And I'm Robert Siegel. Call it being prepared. Call it a blunder. Whatever you call it, a dirty little campaign secret is out. Politicians sometimes pre-tape supposedly instant responses.
BLOCK: How do we know this earth-shattering fact? Well, the Republican Senate candidate from Indiana, Richard Mourdock, who famously defeated Richard Lugar in the primary, made a video. His campaign wanted to be ready with a response when the Supreme Court releases its much-anticipated ruling on the health care law.
In fact, Mourdock made several videos. There's this...
SENATOR RICHARD MOURDOCK: Well, we've had our brief moment of celebration because the Supreme Court ruled that Obamacare is, in fact, unconstitutional. It's what many of us argued all along.
SIEGEL: And this...
MOURDOCK: Well, the Supreme Court has done what none of us really thought could happen. They've ruled Obamacare constitutional.
BLOCK: And this...
MOURDOCK: We now know that Obamacare came down to this split decision. The Supreme Court struck down part, but not all, of the health care bill.
SIEGEL: Well, as you can hear, Richard Mourdock tried to cover all the bases. The trouble is, all of the versions were posted on the candidate's YouTube page. The high court has yet to issue its ruling. Mourdock's campaign realized the mistake and took the videos down.
BLOCK: The campaign of Mourdock's Democratic opponent, Joe Connelly, called this calculated and pre-staged. A spokesman for Mourdock's campaign told us the candidate hopes the Supreme Court strikes down the law, but he cites that old adage of the Boy Scouts as the only explanation for the premature responses. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.