President Obama is pounding Mitt Romney for his refusal to release more information about his taxes and highlighting his GOP rival's vast wealth.
Did the multiple tax returns Romney gave to John McCain factor into the Arizona senator's decision to pass over Romney as his running mate in 2008?
No, but Romney's wealth did play a role, according to McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt.
"We never sat around having a discussion about Mitt Romney's taxes through the prism of a liability if he were chosen" as McCain's running mate, Schmidt told The Huffington Post. The issue, he said, was that McCain had already been "caught flat-footed answering a question about how many houses he owned."
"We knew it would be a big liability that the presidential and the vice presidential candidates together owned more than a dozen homes. It was like something out of a 'Saturday Night Live' skit. I mean, come on," Schmidt told The Huffington Post.
Romney is worth between $190 million to $250 million, according to his financial disclosure reports. He has said he will only release tax filings for 2010-2011, and has already posted on his website his return for 2010 and an estimate for last year.
Those two years are "sufficient," Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said.
Obama today is out with a new TV ad suggesting Romney is hiding something by not releasing more tax information.
A recent Gallup Poll showed 75% of registered voters say Romney's wealth doesn't make a difference to them. But 20% -- mostly Democrats and independents -- say his wealth could make a difference in how they'll vote in November.