Signs are Pointing to Obama Campaign having Dirt on Romney Finances [View all]

[berni_mccoy]

I've been watching this particular topic with some interest.

On one hand, there was Romney's refusal to his own primary challengers to disclose his tax returns. And then reinforcement of that stance again once he became the apparent nominee for the GOP.

However, the Obama campaign has pursued this unprecedented lack of transparency with more passion than I expected. It would be one thing if they were simply re-iterating the need for Romney to disclose the returns. It is an entirely different matter that they are escalating it with more fervor than a birther demanding Obama's birth certificate. And this escalation is coordinated with the Democratic party, as they were out in full force this weekend hammering Romney on the point.

For example, back in May, the Obama campaign came out with the Map of Romney's Money in Off-Shore Accounts.

The language at the time was roughly paraphrased as "we're not saying he's done anything illegal, but every president has disclosed their returns", emphasizing that there was no suspicion of illegal activity. Furthermore, the campaign was tying it to Romney's Bain Capital's practice of sending labor overseas while liquidating American companies.

Last month, the language and emphasis shifted to basically, "What is Romney hiding? Why won't he show is tax returns?". The term "cover up" was used frequently.

Now, the terminology has shifted yet again. "We don't know if he has done anything illegal. We don't know if he is evading taxes." These are no longer questions, but statements with hints of accusation. I know from everything I've seen from Obama and his last campaign, that they would not go there if the simple revelation of Romney's returns would be made. That is, they must know that Romney has damaging information in his returns and there is no way in hell he is going to reveal them. And the damaging info can't be simply a mistake or that he's using the tax code to minimize taxes. If that were the case, Romney would reveal them and he could cause some blow-back on the Obama campaign for the haymaking.

Instead, I believe the Obama Campaign really does know something they haven't revealed yet. And Romney knows it too, otherwise he would put this issue to rest by revealing his return. The political damage in not doing so is going to continue until Romney reveals it. I believe the Obama Campaign knows what it is and is going to eventually release it. The question is, will we find out at the GOP convention or will we find out in October?

This election may very well be about Taxes after all. I just don't think the GOP expected it to be about Romney's taxes.