David Axelrod, a senior adviser to the Obama campaign, on Sunday reiterated calls for Mitt Romney to release more tax returns but declined to support Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s assertion – made without any evidence to publicly back it up – that the soon-to-be Republican presidential nominee didn't pay taxes at all for years.
“I don’t know who Harry was talking to,” Axelrod said on Fox News Sunday. “The point here is the Romney campaign can resolve this in 10 seconds … they ought to release the returns and that would put all of this to rest.”
The controversy over Romney’s taxes has raged for weeks, stoked by calls from the Obama campaign that it proves he’s hiding something. Romney has retorted that he’s released two years of his returns, and that they amount to a distraction from the issue voters care about: the economy.
On the economy, Axelrod repeatedly steered questions about the president’s record back to a comparison with his opponent’s proposals, framing the election as choice.
“The real question before voters is: What’s the choice on the other side? This week, we learned Romney’s plan would cut taxes for wealthy and raise taxes on middle class,” he said, referring to a study from the Tax Policy Center. “That’s not a prescription for success.”
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