Romney’s Bain Capital / Tax Return problem is truly hitting a critical mass and is now in the mainstream of American political consciousness: The latest survey conducted by Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling (PPP) on behalf of Daily Kos and SEIU shows that 56 percent of American voters believe Romney should release his tax returns for the last 12 years, compared with only 34 percent who believe he should not. George Romney, the late former governor of Michigan and father of the presumptive Republican nominee, released 12 years’ worth of his tax returns when he ran for president in 1968, famously quipping that “one year could be a fluke.”
The Obama campaign is ramping up the pressure: Democrats have entered the go-for-the-jugular stage of the presidential race, with President Barack Obama's campaign, the Democratic National Committee and an allied opposition research group all releasing videos today attacking Mitt Romney for his refusal to release more tax returns.
The videos are distinct. The Obama campaign clip will air on television in Pennsylvania, where Mitt Romney is campaigning today. The DNC's version craftily uses Sarah Palin to suggest that John McCain was so nervous about Romney's taxes that he made a historic roll of the dice with his running mate pick in 2008.
The video put together by America Bridge 21st Century is a sharp edit job of all the prominent GOP officials and pundits who have begun groaning about Romney's handling of the matter.
Meanwhile, there is yet more evidence the Obama campaign’s Bain ads are working:
In a swing-state survey from Purple Strategies released Monday, nearly 4 in 10 voters said new information they had learned in the past week made them consider Romney less favorably than they had before, and 42 percent of independents said Romney was “too out of touch” to be president. In Colorado, Virginia and Ohio, Romney’s favorability numbers have dropped from June.
It’s hard to see how Romney’s ‘exciting’ VP pick will change the narrative but he’ll try:
Reuters reports that Mitt Romney has reached the final stages of selecting a vice presidential running mate, with “growing speculation” that he has narrowed the short list to three prospective candidates:
Ohio Senator Rob Portman, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
And to add insult to injury, looks like Romney even has an Olympic sized outsourcing problem:
For the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, who has repeatedly promised on the trail to "get tough" on China… while at the helm of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Romney outsourced the production of torchbearer uniforms to Burma.
We’ll be asking if Mitt Romney can survive this and actually make it t the GOP convention when fellow Republicans seem to be turning against him.