PITTSBURGH — Mitt Romney plans to stay on the attack in the race for the White House, but growing pressure from across the political spectrum to release his personal tax returns threatens to stunt the Republican presidential candidate’s momentum as he courts voters across key Midwestern battlegrounds.
The former Massachusetts governor takes his fight against President Barack Obama to Ohio on Wednesday, building off fiery speeches in Pennsylvania the day before in which he accused his Democratic opponent of believing the government is more vital to a thriving economy than the nation’s workers and dreamers.
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Speaking in the Pittsburgh area Tuesday, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney told supporters that President Barack Obama is out of touch with American business owners.
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Campaigning in Austin, Texas, President Barack Obama said GOP challenger Mitt Romney wanted to let the auto industry go bankrupt, rather than provide a bailout. The president said he disagreed with that thinking.
“I’m convinced he wants Americans to be ashamed of success,” Romney declared Tuesday in the Pittsburgh area as hundreds of supporters cheered him on.
Having spent most of Tuesday courting donors across Texas, Obama has a series of official meetings in Washington ahead of a two-day Florida campaign swing later in the week.
Democrats have pressed for the release of more of Romney’s tax returns and hounded the Republican candidate over discrepancies about when he left his private equity firm. Obama has been trying to keep Romney focused on matters other than the sluggish economy, even releasing a single-shot TV ad Tuesday that suggests Romney gamed the system so well that he may not have paid any taxes at all for years.
After being on his heels for several days, Romney launched an aggressive counterattack this week, punctuated by biting speeches, conference calls and a television ad expected for release Wednesday that accuses Obama of “crony capitalism” and seizes on comments uttered while campaigning in Virginia last week.
The president, making a point about the supportive role government plays in building the nation, said in part: “Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Obama later added, “The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.”
At a Pittsburgh fundraiser Tuesday evening, Romney lashed out at the remark, a strategy his campaign says will be a theme for the week, if not longer.
“It’s foolish on its face and shocking that a president of the United States would not understand the power of entrepreneurship and innovation,” Romney said. “It is an attack on the very premise that makes America such a powerful economic engine.”
For the often-reserved Romney, the fresh attacks marked a substantial escalation in aggression for a candidate who has recently struggled to answer questions about his business career and personal tax returns. The former businessman, who would be among the nation’s wealthiest presidents if elected, has so far released just one year of personal income tax returns and promised to release a second.
That’s a stark deviation from a tradition created in part by Romney’s father, George, a presidential candidate a generation ago who released 12 years of his own returns.
The former Massachusetts governor takes his fight against President Barack Obama to Ohio on Wednesday, building off fiery speeches in Pennsylvania the day before in which he accused his Democratic opponent of believing the government is more vital to a thriving economy than the nation’s workers and dreamers.
Video
Speaking in the Pittsburgh area Tuesday, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney told supporters that President Barack Obama is out of touch with American business owners.
Video
Campaigning in Austin, Texas, President Barack Obama said GOP challenger Mitt Romney wanted to let the auto industry go bankrupt, rather than provide a bailout. The president said he disagreed with that thinking.
“I’m convinced he wants Americans to be ashamed of success,” Romney declared Tuesday in the Pittsburgh area as hundreds of supporters cheered him on.
Having spent most of Tuesday courting donors across Texas, Obama has a series of official meetings in Washington ahead of a two-day Florida campaign swing later in the week.
Democrats have pressed for the release of more of Romney’s tax returns and hounded the Republican candidate over discrepancies about when he left his private equity firm. Obama has been trying to keep Romney focused on matters other than the sluggish economy, even releasing a single-shot TV ad Tuesday that suggests Romney gamed the system so well that he may not have paid any taxes at all for years.
After being on his heels for several days, Romney launched an aggressive counterattack this week, punctuated by biting speeches, conference calls and a television ad expected for release Wednesday that accuses Obama of “crony capitalism” and seizes on comments uttered while campaigning in Virginia last week.
The president, making a point about the supportive role government plays in building the nation, said in part: “Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Obama later added, “The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together.”
At a Pittsburgh fundraiser Tuesday evening, Romney lashed out at the remark, a strategy his campaign says will be a theme for the week, if not longer.
“It’s foolish on its face and shocking that a president of the United States would not understand the power of entrepreneurship and innovation,” Romney said. “It is an attack on the very premise that makes America such a powerful economic engine.”
For the often-reserved Romney, the fresh attacks marked a substantial escalation in aggression for a candidate who has recently struggled to answer questions about his business career and personal tax returns. The former businessman, who would be among the nation’s wealthiest presidents if elected, has so far released just one year of personal income tax returns and promised to release a second.
That’s a stark deviation from a tradition created in part by Romney’s father, George, a presidential candidate a generation ago who released 12 years of his own returns.