And now, it’s time for the “I double dog dare you to release your tax returns” portion of the gubernatorial race. Ken Cuccinelli says he’ll show us his, and the RPV is demanding that Terry McAuliffe follow suit:
“Ken Cuccinelli demonstrated openness and transparency with Virginians today and it is entirely appropriate to demand the same of Terry McAuliffe,” said RPV Chairman Pat Mullins. “In recent weeks we’ve seen Mr. McAuliffe’s integrity challenged. His job creation claims fail the reality test. His secretive departure from GreenTech Automotive calls into question his sincerity. His attempt to blame the Virginia Economic Development Partnership for his company’s decision to locate GreenTech in Mississippi was exposed as untrue. Mr. McAuliffe would gain a lot of credibility with Virginia voters by making the same eight years of his returns available for public scrutiny.”
If it all sounds incredibly familiar, it should. This is the same line of attack Mitt Romney faced — from his Republican challengers — in the 2012 primaries. Democrats gleefully picked up the cudgel and ran with it, too. Romney eventually released some data, and that information was used against him, with great glee, for the rest of the campaign.
I understand why the Cuccinelli campaign would make such a move. Terry McAuliffe is rich. Ken Cuccinelli isn’t. McAuliffe will likely have very complex returns. Cuccinelli’s are likely much less so. And, as the 2012 campaign proved, putting the rich guy with the fat return on the spot makes for a great drip, drip, drip attack line.
But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. The only saving grace is that we’ve not yet reached that lowest of depths, demanding the release of a gubernatorial candidate’s medical records.
At least not yet…
