The calls for Obama to show his birth certificate still rage on at the extreme fringe of the Republican Party, but it seems that it is finally time for Mitt Romney to turn over his documentation. Instead of a birth certificate, though, Romney's opponents on the left are looking for his tax forms-can we make "formerism" a neologism?-from the past decade. The push comes after a Vanity Fair piece last week that cast doubt on the legality of some of Romney's offshore holdings. Joe Biden, the Obama administration's favorite attack dog, was let off his leash to tell the National Council of La Raza, "Mitt Romney wants you to show your papers, but he won't show us his." It was a perfectly executed double-play that works to woo Latino voters and put the spotlight on Romney's money. Romney countered by saying "There is nothing hidden" in his offshore accounts, and quickly tried to pivot the discussion to the sour economy.
You can expect Romney and Obama to keep playing ping-pong with the economy in the same way until November. Romney will blame Obama for not making the economy all hunky-dory again, something that his private-sector superpowers make him qualified to achieve. The Obama campaign will quickly respond by trying to change the topic with a quick, "BAIN! TAX FORMS! OUTSOURCER!" Romney, in turn, will try to shift the spotlight back to Obama and his lack of a jobs plan-an attack that isn't even true. And so the back and forth sniping will continue for the rest of the season. Welcome to the rest of the campaign everyone.
So They Say
"Under the proposed law, concealed handgun licenses would be acceptable forms of photo ID, but student IDs would not. Many of those without IDs would have to travel great distances to get them, and some would struggle to pay for the documents they might need to obtain them. We call those poll taxes."
-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder discussing Texas' voter-ID law during a speech to the NAACP
Daily Meme: Cash Cabal
- Obama's starting to get real worried about his fundraising numbers, and he'sbegging his 2008 donation-happy supporters to pony up.
- His campaign's emails are growing more distraught too-e.g., "WE COULD LOSE IF THIS CONTINUES."
- Another dire email: "This is no joke. If we can't keep the money race close, it becomes that much harder to win in November."
- It's not really his fault though. Turns out his fundraising problems may have started in 1886.
- And, as Daily Intel points out, "Romney's campaign is building its house with much bigger bricks than Obama's ... 80 percent of Romney's June contributions came from just 6 percent of the donations it received."
- Not going to super PAC events probably doesn't help, either.
- $71 million is nothing to shake a stick at though, and Obama has still outraised Romney overall.
- The Wall Street Journal tried to argue today that Dems have the real money advantage, calling unions a "shadow army."
- To which Hamilton Noah responds, "The argument that unions balance out corporate political spending is like the argument that a journalist is fair because he gets equal amounts of hate mail from both sides. It's not true."
- It's not just the big presidential money making news this week. Molly Redden listssome of the strange state-level super PACs.
What We're Reading
- Sarah Laskow argues that recent criticisms of the local food movement are narrow-minded and off the mark.
- Jamelle Bouie sees signs that President Obama has a significant demographic advantage in Virginia.
What We're Reading
- You thought American politics had ran through the entire Bush dynasty, but just wait.
- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is fundraising for Romney in D.C. tomorrow.
- Jonathan Chait argues that 2012 is turning out to be a war of voter turnout versus voter supression.
- Michael Tomasky has some tips for how Obama can play offense on taxes.
- Sheldon Adelson just dropped $1 million into a new super PAC in Florida.
- No, the Affordable Care Act is not going to kill jobs.
- Ezra Klein answers the question, "What actually matters between now and November?"
Poll of the Day
A survey released today by The Hill finds a majority of likely voters-56 percent-feel that Obama has changed the nation for the worse during his first term. The breakdown shows some partisan slant, with 91 percent of Republicans saying that changes under Obama have been negative. But one in five Democrats agrees-enough to push the total over half. There was a notable racial divide, with 92 percent of blacks saying Obama has changed the country for the better, compared with 29 percent of whites.
