Mitt, your friends are only trying to help

By Richard K. Barry

When did Bill Kristol become the voice of reason in the Republican Party? I mean, even he thinks it's nuts for Mitt Romney to refuse to release more than a couple years of tax returns.

"He should release the tax returns tomorrow. It's crazy," Kristol said on "Fox News Sunday." "You gotta release six, eight, 10 years of back tax returns. Take the hit for a day or two."

As Politico notes:

Romney has only released his 2010 tax returns and estimated returns for last year, but he has refused to release additional documents even though it's been common practice for candidates to do so, prompting scathing criticism from the Obama campaign.

I suppose the question is, what kind of hit would Romney be taking and what is he so afraid of? Would we find proof positive that he's a lot richer than he has been saying or that he has been sheltering his money in foreign accounts for years. It doesn't seem possible that Romney is simply standing on some sense of principle. God knows principle is not exactly his strong suit.

It makes me wonder what the debate is like at the centre of the Romney campaign if they think not releasing a bunch of back tax returns is a more palatable strategy than getting thumped every day for the the next four months on a lack of openness. It leaves him vulnerable to countless attack ads: "What else is Mitt Romney hiding from the American people?" Can't wait for those.

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)