BuzzFeed: “Mitt Romney has spent much of the last week arguing that, despite some public records, he was effectively gone from Bain Capital in February 1999. But in February 2000, Romney was introduced as the ‘founder and CEO of Capital’ at the National Press Club during an appearance about the Olympics, and Romney’s biography on the Olympic’s website listed him as Bain Capital ‘founder and CEO.'”

Meanwhile, a new Obama video asks people what “retroactively retired” means.

[Read more…]

A new Public Policy Polling survey in New Mexico finds the presidential race tightening with President Obama holding a five point lead, 49% to 44%.

The previous two PPP polls found Obama ahead by 14 and 15 points.

Key finding: “New Mexico still looks like a lean Obama state, but a surprise choice by
Mitt Romney of Susana Martinez as his running mate could make the state
a toss up. With her on the ticket Obama’s lead drops all the way down
to 48-47. That’s a testament to Martinez’s appeal with Democrats.”

As pressure builds on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns, the Huffington Post reports that the GOP nominee has not even disclosed all of his tax documents for 2010 — the only year for which he has presented any final tax forms.

“Romney released his 2010 tax return in January of this year, a document that first informed voters about the existence of his Swiss bank account and financial activities in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. But people who own foreign bank accounts are required to file a separate document with the IRS that provides additional details on such overseas bank holdings, and Romney has not released that form to the public.”

President Obama’s reelection campaign filed a federal lawsuit against Ohio’s top elections official “in a dispute over the battleground state’s law that restricts in-person early voting in the three days leading up to Election Day,” the AP reports.

“Obama’s campaign and other Democrats argue that the law unfairly ends in-person early voting for most Ohioans on the Friday evening before the Tuesday election while allowing military and overseas voters to cast ballots in person until Monday. Before the changes to the law, local election boards had the discretion to set their own hours for such voting on the days before the election.”

The Week has six theories.

Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) insisted to The Hill that he was not running negative ads about his challenger.

Said Heller: “The campaign is. If you have any questions or comments it’d probably be better if you directed those towards the campaign. Just talk to the campaign, they’re the ones dealing specifically with this issue. Right now, I’m just worried about jobs and the economy.”

The Week weighs the evidence.

New York Times: “Mr. Romney’s possible running mates, who have handed over reams of documents to the campaign, have probably opened themselves to a greater level of scrutiny than the candidate himself, especially on the thorny question of taxes. Mr. Romney has said he will disclose federal tax returns covering two years by Election Day, far fewer than the 23 years’ worth that he handed over to Senator John McCain as a possible vice-presidential pick in 2008.”

A new Latino Decisions poll finds President Obama leading Mitt Romney among Latino registered voters, 70% to 22%.

Alex Burns: “The final margin among Latinos in 2008 was a 36-point gap in Obama’s favor. Right now, he’s up by 48 points. Which gives you a sense of why Republican elites think it’s so urgent for Romney to make up ground with this bloc.”

Despite suggestions Mitt Romney might pick a running mate this week, sources close to the Romney campaign tell the New York Daily News the working plan “has been to announce the pick after the Olympic Games, which begin next week and conclude Aug. 12 — two weeks before the Republican convention in Tampa.”

“The running mate choice — a high-stakes pick often described as the first presidential-caliber decision a candidate makes — will dominate the news cycle for days, temporarily changing the subject from Romney’s financial baggage. But some top advisers believe popping the name now would be seen as a panicky overreaction to Romney’s bad press and should be saved for better ‘bounce’ closer to the convention. As a practical matter, moreover, a GOP veteran of vice presidential rollouts said it takes at least a month for a support staff to be up and running before a nominee is named.”

Rick Klein: “An early VP pick would be out of character for Mitt Romney and a campaign team that has made few panic moves in this long campaign. Yes, it would change the storyline in a big way — but it would also acknowledge that the current story needs desperate changing. The one big chip Romney can play that President Obama can’t is his choice for vice president, and even holding onto that chip gives him leverage over the campaign.”

The conservative National Review calls on Mitt Romney to release tax returns prior to 2010:

“He’s a politician running for the highest office in the land, and his current posture is probably unsustainable. In all likelihood, he won’t be able to maintain a position that looks secretive and is a departure from campaign conventions. The only question is whether he releases more returns now, or later — after playing more defense on the issue and sustaining more hits. There will surely be a press feeding frenzy over new returns, but better to weather it in the middle of July.”

Byron York: “Now, the general election campaign is here, and the talk is of the Obama
killing machine, not the Romney death star.  By most accounts, the
Romney campaign is not displaying the super-aggressive effectiveness it
showed in the primaries.”

“Newt Gingrich complained loudly — some called it whining — when
Romney first hit him with a negative ad barrage in Iowa.  Then, when
Romney attacked on a far bigger scale in Florida, Gingrich reacted badly
again. Privately, the Romney campaign, which at times seemed to
delight at kicking the hell out of a Republican opponent, had no respect
for Gingrich’s tendency to complain when attacked. Just take it and
hit back harder — that was the way they saw it. Now, however, Romney is
complaining about Obama’s attacks. Romney is far more self-controlled
than Gingrich, but the effect is the same; he’s whining about the other
guy treating him badly. It’s the same thing that happened in the
primary campaign, only with Romney on the hurting end.”

Matt Bai: “The reason for this exponential leap in political spending, if you talk
to most Democrats or read most news reports, comes down to two words:
Citizens United. The term is shorthand for a Supreme Court decision that
gave corporations much of the same right to political speech as
individuals have, thus removing virtually any restriction on corporate
money in politics. The oft-repeated narrative of 2012 goes like this: Citizens United unleashed a torrent of money from businesses and the multimillionaires who run them, and as a result we are now seeing the corporate takeover of American politics.”

“As a matter of political strategy, this is a useful story to tell, appealing to liberals and independent voters who aren’t necessarily enthusiastic about the administration but who are concerned about societal inequality, which is why President Obama has made it a rallying cry almost from the moment the Citizens United ruling was made. But if you’re trying to understand what’s really going on with politics and money, the accepted narrative around Citizens United is, at best, overly simplistic. And in some respects, it’s just plain wrong.”