Even if someone supports the death penalty as a policy, the fact that people have been executed isn't cause for celebration. Most people do not go out of their way to pre-empt a candidate's response to a question simply because they support the policy; the idea that they were cheering because they support the death penalty in the abstract is entirely missing the point.

I'm not sure I agree in this context.

Paul's answer could have been, "We already have laws and money dedicated toward addressing this problem, the mandate isn't necessary." Instead, he said that people should be "free" to suffer the consequences of their choices, even if they are too poor to have insurance or if they just made a stupid decision. That clearly means they should die.

What it means is that actions have consequences, something many people don't like to hear. People oppose the mandate knowing this.