US Presidential Election: Fight of the Mirror Moderates (and Moles) 2012

[ringthree]

So Drudge has a headline claiming that Obama says Romney wants Patraeus. That would be quite a contrast from Biden haha.

Drudge is a Republican mouth-piece, and they have floated other obviously not possible VP's to get news attention for Repubs.

Drudge was also the one that floated Condi Rice as VP.

[ringthree]

Yea, Romney is obviously hiding something. I mean he's shitting all over his fathers legacy of campaign transparency of releasing tax returns. I guarantee if the roles were reversed he'd be all over Obama on this. Much like how they were with Obama's birth certificate. I love how in Republican's minds, what's good for the goose is not good for the gander.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...the-right.html

[RKenshin]

Yea, Romney is obviously hiding something. I mean he's shitting all over his fathers legacy of campaign transparency of releasing tax returns. I guarantee if the roles were reversed he'd be all over Obama on this. Much like how they were with Obama's birth certificate. I love how in Republican's minds, what's good for the goose is not good for the gander.

Could be another strategy at play.

The more Democrats play up on Mitt's dishonesty and how bad/extreme/controversial his tax history is, the more it will work in Mitt's favor if it doesn't end up being anything big. It'll be tough for Dems to resist hammering Mitt on this all the way up to election time, and if right near the end Mitt comes out with a 'here it is!' and it ends up being nothing to write home about... it'll work out much more in his favor.

That said, I still think it's likely just as 'bad' as everyone seems to think.


edit: write* home about lol

[archibaldcrane]

Reid's comments are a weird gambit - he's effectively set the expectation to be the worst thing possible (MITT PAID NO TAXES FOR 10 YEARS!) so that if he does release and it's a bunch of 5-10% taxation, it's like "see! Reid's a total liar, Mitt pays taxes!" which may make releasing a bit more appealing than it was before...but he doesn't want to release at all...so...

[archibaldcrane]

goddamnit ryko

[Andalusian girls]

He wants a guy who was publicly lambasted for a few years of failure in Iraq/Afgan?

Petraeus was lambasted for failure in Iraq ? wat. he's seen as the savior of the mission there and is the biggest celebrity general since World War II

[Churchill]

wat? Petraeus is a fucking moron and is not the reason Iraq turned itself around. That would be Stanley McCrystal, the guy Obama fired.

Edit: Petraeus has been posturing for a political career for a long time though.
Edit2: As has Abizaid

[Demosthenes11]

the important thing is that Reid is not the Obama administration. Reid's accusations, for as long as Romney does not release the records, seem credible - there's no reason not to release returns like everyone else does unless you are deliberately hiding something that could hurt you.

If he does release it, we can assume that it is not immaculate. If Romney was involved in the Swiss bank account scandal or has been paying a 5-10% tax rate, it won't become nitpicking about Reid, it will become how ridiculous it is that Romney wants to cut taxes even more on people like him that are already paying hardly any. And regardless, I think Reid would look like the buffoon and not Obama, who should come out and say something like "We have no knowledge of senator Reid's actions blah blah blah"

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

It's not that unreasonable for Romney to refuse to release them if he's worried about Obama spinning stuff. Obama's staff already called him a felon based on other records.

And let's be honest, you guys can't seriously believe there is any truth to Reid's accusation can you? If you do, you therefore believe Romney paid taxes in the millions of dollars the past two years (or w/e he released his records for) while paying none the previous 10(?) years and the IRS did nothing.

[Gryffes]

It's not that unreasonable for Romney to refuse to release them if he's worried about Obama spinning stuff. Obama's staff already called him a felon based on other records.

And let's be honest, you guys can't seriously believe there is any truth to Reid's accusation can you? If you do, you therefore believe Romney paid taxes in the millions of dollars the past two years (or w/e he released his records for) while paying none the previous 10(?) years and the IRS did nothing.

Swiss tax shelter amnesty bro, google it.

[Andalusian girls]

wat? Petraeus is a fucking moron and is not the reason Iraq turned itself around. That would be Stanley McCrystal, the guy Obama fired.

Edit: Petraeus has been posturing for a political career for a long time though.
Edit2: As has Abizaid

i was speaking to how he is seen, the dude is a rock star. are you guys that out of touch with public perception ?

also i'd give the counterinsurgency tactics he helped developed and his embracement of the Anbar Awakening a lot of credit for turning Iraq around but that isn't really pertinent to his political viability. perception is reality as they say

[Churchill]

I guess I don't really care what the public perception of something is.

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

Swiss tax shelter amnesty bro, google it.

So he still would have paid his taxes? In order for the amnesty to work I assume you'd have to pay what you owe + maybe fines/interest.

Also, you have to believe someone who has wanted to run for President for god knows how long would fuck it all up by not paying his taxes when he's rich, i.e. no need to use the IRS as the lender of last resort.

[Demosthenes11]

So he still would have paid his taxes? In order for the amnesty to work I assume you'd have to pay what you owe + maybe fines/interest.

Also, you have to believe someone who has wanted to run for President for god knows how long would fuck it all up by not paying his taxes when he's rich, i.e. no need to use the IRS as the lender of last resort.

If he thought he could hide the money indefinitely, yes.

and lol. "Oh well maybe he paid his taxes during the amnesty program!!! That makes it all ok!"

[Byrthnoth]

I believe he did something so incredibly stupid with his taxes 3-10 years ago that releasing them would cost him every single swing state. If not, where are the tax returns?

[Demosthenes11]

It's not that unreasonable for Romney to refuse to release them if he's worried about Obama spinning stuff. Obama's staff already called him a felon based on other records.

No, it really is that unreasonable

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

If he thought he could hide the money indefinitely, yes.

and lol. "Oh well maybe he paid his taxes during the amnesty program!!! That makes it all ok!"

It just means Reid is wrong. I implied nothing else.

Edit: Someone just told the media Obama attended Columbia as a foreign exchange student. If Obama doesn't release his records it must mean he did so!

[Churchill]

how are you able to even form words into sentences

[Demosthenes11]

It just means Reid is wrong. I implied nothing else.

Edit: Someone just told the media Obama attended Columbia as a foreign exchange student. If Obama doesn't release his records it must mean he did so!

oh has every presidential candidate in the last 50 years released their college transcripts?

[ringthree]

Could be another strategy at play.

The more Democrats play up on Mitt's dishonesty and how bad/extreme/controversial his tax history is, the more it will work in Mitt's favor if it doesn't end up being anything big. It'll be tough for Dems to resist hammering Mitt on this all the way up to election time, and if right near the end Mitt comes out with a 'here it is!' and it ends up being nothing to write home about... it'll work out much more in his favor.

That said, I still think it's likely just as 'bad' as everyone seems to think.


edit: write* home about lol

I totally agree. If this is a ploy, it is one of the best in political history.

The problem is that some in McCain's camp has signaled to some that this isn't a ploy and it was one of the reasons Mitt was passed over as McCain's VP pick.