Bill Clinton Makes Mitt Romney Feel his Release Your Tax Returns Pain

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Last updated on February 7th, 2013 at 05:43 pm

Bill Clinton showed why he is Mitt Romney’s worst nightmare as he told the Today show audience a little story about Bain, investments, and the oddity of not releasing tax returns.

Here is the video from Today:

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The ball got rolling when Savannah Guthrie asked former President Clinton if he thought questions about Mitt Romney’s investments were relevant.

Clinton answered,

Oh, yes I do. I think for one thing, it’s just as relevant as the going over my record as governor got when I ran for president, and because he’s put it at the forefront. He’s said, basically — ‘I’d be a better president ’cause I know how to create jobs ’cause that’s what I did.’ And he’s going to take credit for running a successful Olympics, for example. So all your work life before you run for president is relevant, and I think that will be relevant.

I am a little surprised that he only released a year’s worth of tax returns. That’s kind of perplexed me, because it’s the first time in I don’t know more than thirty years that anybody running for president has only done that. You know, it’s typical I think that we all release 10 or 11 years. And I think Senator McCain released over 20 years of tax returns. That struck me as a little odd.

Guthrie mentioned that this was about Romney putting his money in overseas tax shelters, and Clinton said, “The public ought to know that. The voters can make up their own minds about whether they think it’s a good thing to — for a person who wants to be president to minimize his own tax liability by putting the money in overseas tax shelters. And they can decide whether they believe that or not.”

Notice how President Clinton effortlessly tied together three bad issues for Romney. Clinton started with the Bush tax cuts, moved on to Romney not releasing his tax returns, and then closed with the Republican nominee’s hidden offshore accounts. The questions about Romney’s finances and activities at Bain are starting to be woven into a single narrative.

What should be even more troubling to Republicans is the fact that Clinton was asked about this on national television. The media is talking about Romney’s time at Bain on their own. Remember, this conversation with Bill Clinton didn’t take place on the evening news, or on politics obsessed cable news. This was the Today show. Casual voters got a dose of Mitt Romney’s investments, tax returns, and time at Bain with their morning coffee.

President Clinton was masterful, and with his good ol’ boy way of telling it, hinted America that Mitt Romney might not be on the up and up. Clinton never attacked Romney, but portrayed himself as the perplexed private citizen who didn’t understand what Romney was up to. Clinton was also able to speak from a devastating position of knowledge and experience about how, “we all” release ten or eleven years of tax returns.

Bill Clinton has become Mitt Romney’s worst nightmare. He can explain why Romney shouldn’t be president in an easy way that even casual followers of politics can understand.

It looks like President Clinton is back and ready help reelect Barack Obama by slaying another Republican hopeful’s presidential dreams.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association

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