Mitt Romney did a media blitz on Friday -- going on five different networks to say, over and over, in the same words and tone (he memorizes well), "I had nothing to do with any entity at Bain after February 2009."
He tried to dismiss those annoying documents that list him as "sole shareholder, chief operating officer, and president" as mere forms that were filled out with the old data while they were working out the transition to someone else.
It didn't work. There are now just more questions.
Another pesky document has surfaced, filed with the state of Massachusetts in late 2002, a month after he was elected governor. It lists Romney as one of two "managing members" of Bain Capital Investors, LLC.
You tried to whitewash, Mitt. It didn't work. This is going to keep dripping out and making you look bad -- as well as dominating the news cycle -- until you come clean. Either fess up that you did still had responsibility at Bain, and therefore have to own up to being in charge when their record is not so savory -- or else you retained the titles (and a salary listed as "over $100,000") and did absolutely nothing to earn it.
The beauty of this as a campaign tactic for Obama is that, while the issue itself is a trifle (did he or did he not attend board meetings and make decisions?): (1) it further taints the image of Romney as an admirable corporate executive; (2) it keeps reminding people that things happen differently for the wealthy and powerful (wouldn't we all like to have a $100,000 salary for doing nothing?); and (3) it reinforces the image of Romeny as slippery with the truth, of changing what he says to fit the moment.
Ralph
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In the end, it's probably going to turn out that Romney did nothing illegal -- but he has clouded the picture so much that it is a political hot potato.
ReplyDeleteA former partner has now said that Romney remained the "legal CEO" of Bain for 2 years after he says he left there. The fact is that he retained legal ownership -- and control -- while he was working in Utah, because it took them that long to negotiate his settlement. In part, this may have been because he was too busy in Utah to come back to do the negotiations.
But, legal or not, this is the kind of issue that dominates the news cycle and keeps Romney on the defensive.
And -- if the Repubs had something comparable, you can be sure they would play it to he hilt against Obama.