Mitt Romney on possible ‘bombshell’ in Trump’s tax returns
ROMNEY’S TIMELY TRUMP TROLLING Donald Trump argues that Mitt Romney is in no position to be asking for the 2016 Republican frontrunner’s tax returns on the grounds that Romney lost the 2012 general election. Romney is also, Trump wrote, a “dope.”
But Romney is arguably the very best Republican to be asking Trump about his tax returns given how successfully Democrats exploited Romney’s filings to alienate potential voters. Democrats essentially called Romney a tax cheat for his low rates and the attack stuck. And it is a line, in some form or another, which Democrats will be sure to repeat against the billionaire Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee.
Romney began releasing his tax returns amid pressure from his rivals in early Republican primaries in 2012. But because Trump’s rivals have neglected to actually attack the frontrunner very much, Trump is only just now being pressed on this crucial general election issue.
Romney’s troll timing is perfect. Trump is either less than a week away from starting to put the Republican nomination in the bag or facing lengthening odds in his unlikely but so-far successful quest. He is also facing tonight what promises to be his most challenging debate yet.
Trump’s detractors to this point have mostly knocked Trump for insufficient conservativeness, or flip flopping, or being of poor character. But voters primarily interested in conservative orthodoxy and personal virtue are probably not part of Trump’s long-term coalition. Trump’s voters don’t seem to care about his politics. They just want a winner.
What few have hit the frontrunner on are his business failures and the unhappy chapters of his career. His business troubles and his finances have been a long-running part of Trump’s media feuds in the past but have oddly not been part of the political discussion. It is particularly odd given how much of a focus Romney’s relatively tame business record was four years ago.
Romney’s mischievous speculation is using Trump’s tactics against Trump. When the celebrity billionaire speculated about Sen. Ted Cruz’s nativity, Sen. Marco Rubio’s sweat glands, or Ben Carson’s gifts as a teenaged knife fighter, he was doing exactly what Romney is doing now.
Whether Trump can manage to lock up his party’s nomination – which could come as soon as March 15 – without divulging his tax returns will depend on the press and his competitors. Neither has shown themselves to have much snap in their noodles when it comes to taking on Trump so far, but the hour is late and the stakes are high.
Rubio, Cruz sharpen attacks on Trump - Fox News: “Speaking at a special forum in Houston hosted by Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called on Republican voters Wednesday to unite around his campaign, saying that his was ‘the only campaign that can beat Donald [and] has beat Donald,’ a reference to his win in last month's Iowa caucuses…Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has finished second in each of the last two nominating contests, acknowledged that Trump was ‘the frontrunner and I’m the underdog, but I’ve been an underdog my entire life.’ Rubio added that his campaign ‘would not allow the conservative movement to be defined by a nominee who isn't a conservative.’ Rubio also took a shot at Trump, though he did not mention that candidate's name, for his remarks on Muslims.”
Trump’s resort spurned American applicants for foreign workers - NYT: “Since 2010, nearly 300 United States residents have applied or been referred for jobs as waiters, waitresses, cooks and housekeepers [at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla.]. But according to federal records, only 17 have been hired. In all but a handful of cases, Mar-a-Lago sought to fill the jobs with hundreds of foreign guest workers from Romania and other countries.”
White nationalists plump for Trump in robocalls - Daily Beast: “A xenophobic pro-Donald Trump robocall urges voters in Vermont and Minnesota not to vote for a ‘Cuban’ like Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz. The call comes from the American National PAC and is voiced by its founded William Daniel Johnson, the leader of the white nationalist American Freedom Party. ‘The white race is dying out in America and Europe because we are afraid to be called ‘racist,’ the call said. ‘I am afraid to be called racist. Donald Trump is not a racist, but Donald Trump is not afraid. Don’t vote for a Cuban. Vote for Donald Trump.’ Trump had previously disavowed the super PAC that released controversial robocalls on his behalf in Iowa.”
Why it’s still a race - RCP’s Lou Cannon explains why Trump isn’t the inevitable nominee writing that Trump’s unfavorable rating and loss of late-breaking voters means Trump still faces competition heading into Super Tuesday.
March 15: ‘Day of Reckoning’ - FiveThirtyEight: “March 15 is truly the GOP’s ‘day of reckoning,’ and Florida may be the most pivotal state on the entire calendar. If Trump defeats Rubio in his winner-take-all backyard, it would be game over. But if Rubio wins over enough of Jeb Bush’s old supporters to claim Florida’s 99-delegate jackpot, it could mark a long-awaited turning point in the race. At the very least, he could leverage such an outcome to try to prevent Trump from winning a majority of delegates by June.”
Carson wonders whether his campaign ripped off donors - The Atlantic: “For months, reporters and political operatives…have been pointing out that Ben Carson’s campaign bears many of the hallmarks of a political scam operation. Now Carson seems to agree. On CNN on Tuesday, Carson discussed his year-end staff shake-up: ‘We had people who didn't really seem to understand finances,’ a laughing Carson [said] adding, ‘or maybe they did—maybe they were doing it on purpose.’ It’s a remarkable statement—especially because he’s so blithe about it… First, many of the companies being paid millions and millions of dollars are run by top campaign officials or their friends and relations, meaning those people are making a mint. Second, many of the contributions are coming from small-dollar donors. If that money is being given by well-meaning grassroots conservatives for a campaign that’s designed not to win but to produce revenue for venders, isn’t it just a grift?”
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
