Barack Obama Versus the Bain Bleeder

By the end of the day, the conservatives are up in arms against Romney and demanding he release his taxes. A lot of that comes from the resentment about how he won the primaries using attack ads and bombing out anyone who challenged him. This is not a candidate well-loved by his rivals. In 2008, everyone couldn't stand him and in 2012 everyone can't stand him. 


Only Charles Krauthammer said that he shouldn't and it was no big deal. 


For the Obama campaign, they have boxed Romney in and when and if he releases his taxes they will make him the poster boy for what is wrong with our tax system and vulture capitalism. If he doesn't, then they can campaign on how Romney is secretive and will not reveal what he would or would not do on a whole range of policy issues.


To party officials and operatives it is mystifying why Romney allowed himself to get into this situation. They point out that he even had this issue occur when he ran for Governor and even during the 2008 primary campaign. Why didn't his campaign team anticipate this attack and be able to counter it? It has already taken a toll on his credibility and now whispers are about his viability.


Can you actually go to the Convention without releasing your taxes? Can you choose a Vice Presidential candidate and then have him respond to the press whether you should release your taxes? Michael Steele said he didn't believe it. But Romney by late afternoon fired at his Republican critics saying they did not know how Democrats considered taxes issues these days. He claimed it was different from the past.


Steele argued that whatever is in the tax returns Romney can say it was all perfectly legal and that he understood how someone of his wealth benefited from the system and that he vows to change it. But that isn't Romney's position. With his tax proposals, he would net $85 million more. So Michael Steele proposal is eminently reasonable but it is not the mindset of a CEO.


What most financially savvy observers speculate is that Romney's 2009 return will probably show he paid little or not taxes because of large capital losses. This would be seen by the average American as another rich guy not paying his fair share. But if that is the case, then he should have released his returns earlier because that fact alone will not damage him as much as his reluctance to release anything.


The Obama campaign actually has a lot of room to maneuver on this issue whether he releases his returns or not. It is already a negative for Romney. It is clear that he can't take the heat. Today, he and his campaign spent all day suggesting Obama hates business and is a foreigner. It presumes your audience has never heard the President speak or talk about the American dream. 


Juan Williams wrote today in the Hill that while Republicans bemoan Romney's failure to rise above his Bain issue and talk about Obama's "failure" on jobs Romney doesn't have much of a jobs program himself, only supporting the construction of the oil pipeline, which would generate about 2,500 jobs. 


In short, when the Bain stuff clears and it doesn't look like it will any time soon, Romney is then exposed to actually having to argue policy. Just this week, Republican Senators expressed confusion about his Afghanistan policy. This will run the gamut from foreign affairs to tax policy.


Then we have the Olympics, which Romney thought would be an excellent occasion to showcase his Salt Lake City triumph but it looks like a vacation with his wife to watch their horse. It looks like a man abandoning his campaign mid-stream, something Newt Gingrich was always being criticized for.


Any campaign wants to have the breakout moment. Instead, Obama's team have brilliantly boxed Romney in so that even with future poor jobs reports Romney may not get any traction for at least two months. By then it could be too late. 


By the time people start paying after Labor Day, Romney's character will be a major issue and he will have failed to make this election a referendum on Obama. Instead, as James Carville has suggested, this election is about the middle class and Obama has the chops to make that message stick.