“There is no whining in politics. Stop demanding an apology, release
your tax returns.”

— GOP strategist John Weaver, quoted by the AP, calling on Mitt Romney to disclose his tax returns.

“If you have things to hide, then maybe you’re doing things wrong. I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people.”

— Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R), quoted by the AP, calling on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns.

If you missed Mitt Romney’s network television interview blitz last night, a 60 second video compiles the highlights.

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Mitt Romney asked for an apology yesterday from President Obama on the attacks over Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital.

The Obama campaign responds today with a video.

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President Obama’s re-election campaign is up with a new ad featuring a soundtrack of Mitt Romney singing.

The ad is running in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

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A new Mason-Dixon poll in Florida finds President Obama barely ahead of Mitt Romney in the key battleground state, 46% to 45%.

With Sen. Marco Rubio (R) as Romney’s running mate, the GOP ticket only gets a
slight uptick with Romney ahead by one point, 46% to 45%. However, among Hispanics, a demographic many thought Rubio would help bring
to the Republican ticket, the divide remains evenly split with 44% voting Republican and 43% leaning Democrat.

A new Marist poll finds President Obama edging Mitt Romney nationally in the presidential race, 48% to 46%.

Said pollster Lee Miringoff: “The race was close yesterday, it’s close today and it probably will be close tomorrow and it may even be close on Election Day.”

Mitt Romney told CNN that he’s already released his 2010 return and will release his 2011 return when it’s ready.

Said Romney: “And that’s what we’re going to put out. People always want to get more and we’re putting out what is required plus more that is not required. And those are the two years that people are going to have and that’s all that’s necessary for people to understand something about my finances.”

“The president needs to take control of these people. He ought to disavow it and rein in these people who are running out of control. He sure as heck ought to say that he’s sorry for the kinds of attacks that are coming from his team.”

— Mitt Romney, in an interview with ABC News, after Obama campaign officials implied that Romney committed a felony by saying he left Bain Capital in 1999.

Just ahead of Mitt Romney’s round of network television interviews, President Obama told WJLA-TV that his rival needs to answer questions about his tenure at Bain Capital.

Said Obama: “Well, here’s what I know, we were just talking about responsibility and as president of the United States, it’s pretty clear to me that I’m responsible for folks who are working in the federal government and you know, Harry Truman said the buck stops with you.”

“Now, my understanding is that Mr. Romney attested to the SEC, multiple times, that he was the chairman, CEO and president of Bain Capital and I think most Americans figure if you are the chairman, CEO and president of a company that you are responsible for what that company does.”

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Politicker: “Back in 2002 when he was running for Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney and his aides had no problem admitting he retained his position as CEO of Bain Capital after 1999. Press articles from the time describe how Mr. Romney was on a ‘leave of absence’ after 1999 and had not fully cut ties with the private equity firm.”

Dave Weigel quotes a Boston Herald article when Romney left the firm in February 1999: “Romney said he will stay on as a part-timer with Bain, providing input on investment and key personnel decisions.”

Meanwhile, Daily Kos has a press release from mid-1999 that describes Romney as being “part-time.”

Glenn Kessler defends
Mitt Romney’s assertion that he left the helm of Bain Capital in 1999 by arguing the language
saying he was “sole stockholder,
chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president” was
boilerplate… there is no standard definition of a “chief executive”… no
requirement for anyone to have any responsibilities even if they have
that title.”

Brad DeLong: “It would be very unusual for somebody to have the titles… and to have no responsibilities whatsoever. In
fact, I defy Glenn Kessler to come up with any example of anybody
anywhere- — save for Mitt Romney — who has been characterized to the SEC as ‘sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and
president’ and also claimed to have no responsibilities whatsoever and
to have merely been a passive investor.”

Meanwhile, BuzzFeed has a SEC filing that might be the hardest for Romney to explain.

Mitt Romney will give interviews today with ABC News, NBC News and CBS News, Politico reports.

“The recorded interviews will take place later this afternoon, and are likely to air during the nightly news casts, though that could not be confirmed.”