Unlike John Edwards and Hillary Clinton, John McCain understands that health insurance mandates are a bad idea. Yesterday, during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, he said mandating health insurance makes about as much sense as requiring everyone to buy a house:

I’m not going to mandate that every American have health insurance. I’m not going to mandate that every American have a home. I’m not going to mandate that every American have a college education … but I’m going to make them all affordable and available.

One can be forgiven for doubting that he can actually make all of these things “affordable and available,” but at least the man doesn’t endorse the panacea of health insurance mandates. This, along with his position on malpractice reform, makes him one of the few presidential candidates whose health care proposals don’t scare me.