Mark Kleiman is uncomfortable with Harry Reid’s accusation about Romney not paying taxes, Jonathan Zasloff counters by endorsing an LBJ-style “make him deny it” approach.
There is another option, which is for the President to talk about his own tax disclosures in a fashion that sticks closely to observable facts, but also heightens the contrast. What would happen if in his speeches and even moreso in the debates, President Obama said things like the following:
“Governor Romney has decided not to release his tax returns, and I respect his decision. I chose to release mine because I feel the people of this country have a right to know whether presidential candidates have paid their fair share of taxes in a legal fashion.”
“I have released my tax returns because I have nothing to hide from the American people. I don’t honestly know why Governor Romney hasn’t followed suit, but I am sure he has his reasons.”
“Of course I’ve released my tax returns as have all Presidential candidates for decades. It was an easy decision for me because I haven’t done anything unethical or criminal. I’m sorry I misspoke, I should have said ‘all Presidential candidates other than Governor Romney’ just now. I apologize to the Governor, I didn’t mean to imply that he had released his tax returns, because he hasn’t.”
Too cute by half and bad tactics. All this would achieve would be to dent Obama’s likability while implicitly putting him on a par with Romney. Harry Reid is doing just fine. When even McArdle is flushed out into the open to babble about Bain not specializing - AS FAR AS SHE KNOWS - in tax shelters, you know you must be doing something right. Let the surrogates keep twisting the knife while Obama stays above the fray and hammers home the economic message about what Mitt Romney’s “plan” means for hard-working Americans.
NickT: You might be right…I drank an extra cup of coffee this morning…the dopamine spike might be sabotaging my higher thought centers. An alternative approach even softer is to say the above statements with no mention of Romney, i.e., “I have released my tax returns”, leaving reporters to ask about Romney and then responding in statesmanlike fashion “That’s his decision, I was only speaking about myself”.
Honestly, I would leave well enough alone when it comes to involving the President.(Possibly my two cups of coffee are sabotaging my higher thought centers!) I’d say the squawking from “moderates” about how unfair that big meanie Harry Reid is being indicates that what he’s doing works.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a campaign commercial saying: “Barack Obama and Joe Biden have both put 12 years of tax returns online - and any American can look them over. It’s easy enough to do - if you have nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of. Mitt Romney refuses to put his last 12 years of tax returns online. America deserves better.” Or something along those lines.
You raise a good thought with Biden, because he would have released his own returns and could substitute in the above tactics for the President.
Using Biden as opposed to Obama makes a lot of sense to me. Obama should be hammering the middle class tax increase issue. Let the VP do the dirty work.
With regard to your suggested language, “I respect his decision,” it seems there are two possibilities:
1) You are claiming that Obama does, in fact, respect Romney’s decision not to release his tax returns.
2) You think Obama should tell a lie.
Now that the impact of those cups of coffee has worn off, are you sure you want to go with either of these options?
Surely irony is to be permitted to politicians? After all, this isn’t the leap-frog contest at the high school games day.
He could say that he respects Romney’s prerogative to make that decision.
I wonder what will happen when Romney makes his VP choice. Will that person release only his/her 2010-2011 returns (so as not to show up Romney), or will we see a decades worth?
Godd question. I bet Romney will want a decade’s worth, but then will he ask the VP choice to release them? Either way is no good.
No way his VP is more transparent than Romney. I mean, his VP will be completely disassembled by the vetting team, their entire life laid bare behind closed doors - but we the public won’t see more tax returns from his VP than we do from Rmoney. The contrast would be too obvious.
In four years, the Republican nominee will be a faceless, nameless man with no history, wearing a jumpsuit emblazoned with corporate logos.
But will it be Wenlock or Mandeville?
Oh, for FSM’s sake. Those awful things have names?
Chance, from Kosinsky’s Being There.
P.S. Keith, Being There is worthy of your consideration for a Friday Film…
It’s a good thought Dennis, really like that film.
decade’s, of course.
Yeah verily, they do have names, Warren. Damned if I understand why or what the critters are, but Mandeville and Wenlock it is….
Romney is now claiming that Obama is trying to prevent soldiers from voting. “You didn’t build that” was bad enough but this is a whole different level.
Reid could call Romney a pig fucker at this point and I don’t think I’d bat an eye.
Getting one’s opponent caught in a vicious cycle of punching down has so many positive factors for one’s own campaign. Harry Reid is doing a fine job, politically speaking!
I feel like I just dropped in from another planet! Reid demands Romney release past 10 years of tax returns?! Has Obama released 10? 5? I recall seeing one form which had an apparently fraudulent SSN, which they thought was hidden. Records? How about any verifiable records for the president - any at all! We have a selective service registration card with a forged date stamp, an SSN that appears fraudulent and oh ya, a birth certificate which many, many experts have shown is a fake. Let’s have both candidates show all their records for the past 10 years - taxes, business records, passport and travel records…
I feel like I just dropped in from another planet!
You did, it’s called “planet crazy”.