Reasons for Romney Tax Release Emerge
Mitt Romney’s decision to release tax information he’d said was off the table revives an issue seven weeks before Election Day that had finally faded from view, and could give Democrats new fodder for their caricature of Romney as a secretive businessman.
Republicans are hopeful a piece of the information released Friday that he’d always promised — Romney’s full 2011 tax return — adds little to change the story. Voters already know that Romney is rich — now they know his effective tax rate was 14.1 percent last year.
Yet even without the new releases, polls showed Democrats have successfully branded Romney as an out-of-touch rich guy linked to a questionable web of international financial dealings. Releasing additional years worth of tax returns probably wouldn’t help Romney reverse that perception, if that’s even possible at this point.
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“My initial reaction to it is, once again, the Romney campaign wants the worst of both worlds,” said Democratic strategist Jonathan Prince. “All the summary does is raise lots of questions on what the summary hides. At the same time, it completely left everyone hungry for more…(And) they’re conceding that (that) information is somewhat relevant to being asked for and they’re also continuing to hide it. It’s not like they’re trying to have it both ways — they’re trying to lose it both ways.”
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