From Stark
As Mitt Romney’s rivals mount a furious last-ditch effort to derail his progress to the GOP presidential nomination, some are using his income tax return as an issue to challenge his credibility.
Romney has so far refused to release those returns, suggesting he may do so in April. Newt Gingerich argues that South Carolinians deserve a closer look at Romney’s personal finances before they vote next week.]
Other candidates are using heavy broadcast advertising blitzes to remind Palmetto State voters of the moderate-to-liberal positions that Romney has held in the past, when he was courting voters in his home state of Massachusetts.
I want to see his birth certificate.
You knew about this, right? –
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/08/mitt-romney-mexican_n_1192694.html
If Romney is somehow denied the GOP nomination (which doesn’t seem likely at this point) he could declare Mexican citizenship and seek the PAN nomination and run for President down there.
Here’s the AFY scenario:
Either Rommy loses or barely wins in SC; Paul, Newt, Santorum have strong showings, anti Mitt voters begin to support one or two of the strong 2nd’s, who then starts to win a few, nobody gets enough to win outright in Tampa, open convention!
The list of who gets to go to the general can get much larger in an open convention than just those who ran in the primaries! 2012 IMHO will have some twist and turns yet to be seen and maybe not completely seen before, don’t ya know!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
John,
No, I didn’t know about his Mexican heritage; you can’t make this stuff up!
I would expect a candidate that wasn’t bred on Washington politics to be stingy with his personal financial records. He’ll get the hang of it.
And at an open convention, the GOP kingmakers could find the next Warren G. Harding!
An open convention could take the reins from the kingmakers of which they now currently have a firm grasp, don’t ya know!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Historically, the open conventions were the result of divided delegates, in both parties–giving party wheeler-dealers the chance to do their thing and assemble coalitions with behind-the-scenes dealmaking. We shall see.
You be right John, I’s reckon we will, don’t ya know!
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
There we go Harding!
Notice the wiretap photo of Me Commerce Secterary Hoover? Jail for Fall at Interior, and Forbes, with the corruption queen herself?
“Mrs. Harding hired a number of secretaries to collect and burn President Harding’s personal papers. According to Mrs. Harding, she took these actions to protect her husband’s legacy.”
He even slept in the Alaska Governors Mansion, tainted ever since Go Sara!
$374k a speech which Mr. Romney deemed “not much” when asked about it may be one reason he’s a little shy with the records.
That and paying a tax rate of less than 15%.
(Less than our military personnel).
I agree that AFY paints a possible scenario.
Conventional wisdom is that Romney performs better in New Hampshire because he is a New Englander, well known in that media market. Mitt lost last time once the contest moved South.
The trick is that at least one if not two of Perry or Newt or Santorum must leave the race, for the anti-Romney majority to be able to outvote him.
Otherwise, impatient folks will just rally around Mitt since he looks like he is winning.
Unless the tax return information does severe damage in the next couple of days, Mitt is virtually impossible to stop. Even if SC is close, he is leading big in Florida and although I have not seen a Nevada poll he likely will win there. We will see what happens over the next few days. All of the other republican nominees have been attacked intensively and seen their poll numbers drop, will the same happen to Romney or not. The tax rate is a faux issue as his income is driven by capital gains and we have clearly articulated the tax policy that we are going to tax capital gains at a lower rate, simply because it was already taxed once when you recieved the original income and now you have invested it and made money so we have decided to do that at a lesser rate. The attacks on Romeny are hypocritical at best. Obama attacks Bain, while having a Bain aluminus as budget director and Wall Street executive as Chief of Staff. They attack his tax returns, but he is simply following the tax laws. You can attack him for flip-flopping, but name a politician that has not flip-flopped.
Today’s WSJ:
“Mitt Romney hasn’t yet made the case for lower, flatter tax rates as a boon to economic growth, but perhaps he’ll be inspired by the power of his own example..
Mr. Romney said this week that he’d release his 2011 tax return in April, at which point you can expect Team Obama to howl like Occupy Wall Streeters and demand that people like Mr. Romney pay higher tax rates. Rather than play his usual defense by saying he doesn’t favor cutting taxes on anyone making more than $200,000, Mr. Romney could use the opportunity to make the moral and practical case for lower rates and fewer loopholes….
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204555904577167131853956766.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
Romney should release his tax forms when Obama releases his education transcripts.