Mitt Romney “has always been careful to hedge his tough digs at Obama with a civil nod toward the president’s moral character,” BuzzFeed notes. But that ended yesterday.

Said an adviser: “Romney has said Obama’s a nice fellow, he’s just in over his head. But I think the governor himself believes this latest round of attacks that have impugned his integrity and accused him of being a felon go so far beyond that pale that he’s really disappointed. He believes it’s time to vet the president. He really hasn’t been vetted; McCain didn’t do it.”

The adviser added: “I mean, this is a guy who admitted to cocaine use, had a sweetheart deal
with his house in Chicago, and was associated and worked with Rod
Blagojevich to get Valerie Jarrett appointed to the Senate. The bottom line is there’ll be counterattacks.”

Meanwhile, a new Romney ad continues the “crony capitalism” attack and asks, “Where did the stimulus go?”

[Read more…]

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds 66% of Republicans viewed the way Mitt Romney is running his campaign in a favorable light, while 24% viewed it unfavorably. In contrast, 75% of Democrats view President Obama’s bid favorably.

There’s also an enthusiasm gap: While 51% of liberal Democrats feel strongly favorably toward Obama’s campaign, just 31% of conservative Republicans feel the same about Romney’s bid.

Amid rumors he was gearing up for a mayoral run, former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), who resigned last year amid scandal, told People that he had no immediate plans to run for office.

Said Weiner: “I can’t say absolutely that I will never run for public office again, but I’m very happy in my present life. I’m not doing anything to plan a campaign.”

A new Quinnipiac poll in New Jersey finds Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) leads challenger Joe Kyrillos (R) by 13 points, 47% to 34%.

A new WMUR Granite State Poll shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney among New Hampshire likely voters, 49% to 45%.

In April, Obama held a 9-point lead over Romney.

“In the political environment that exists today, the opposition research of the Obama campaign is looking for anything they can use to distract from the failure of the president to reignite our economy. And I’m simply not enthusiastic about giving them hundreds or thousands of more pages to pick through, distort, and lie about.”

— Mitt Romney, in an interview with National Review, reiterating that he won’t release tax returns for years beyond 2010 and 2011.

Josh Green speculates on what Mitt Romney might be trying to hide by not releasing his tax returns and focuses on the financial meltdown in 2008.

“As a member of the ultra-rich, Romney probably wasn’t spared major losses. And it’s possible that he suffered a large enough capital loss that, carried forward and coupled with his various offshore tax havens, he wound up paying no U.S. federal taxes at all in 2009. If true, this would be politically deadly for him. Even assuming that his return was thoroughly clean and legal — a safe assumption, it seems to me — the fallout would dwarf the controversy that attended the news that Romney had paid a tax rate of only 14 percent in 2010 and estimated he’d pay a similar rate in 2011.”

Greg Sargent has more speculation.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “flatly rejected” to Politico the assertion that he didn’t pick Mitt Romney as his running mate in 2008 because of what he saw in his tax returns.

Said McCain: “Oh come on, because we thought that Sarah Palin was the better candidate. Why did we not take Pawlenty, why did we not take any of the other 10 other people. Why didn’t I? Because we had a better candidate, the same way with all the others… Come on, why? That’s a stupid question.”

“Throughout history, presidential candidates have disclosed income tax information prior to Election Day. We believe Americans value disclosure and transparency in campaigns.”

— Senior Mitt Romney adviser Ed Gillespie, quoted in a 2004 RNC press release, urging Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) to release more tax information.

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Iowa finds President Obama leading Mitt Romney by five points, 48% to 43%.

In early May, Obama held a 10 point advantage at 51% to 41%.

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) said that Mitt Romney should release more of his tax returns, adding to the pressure on the GOP nominee to share personal financial information, Politico reports.

Said Paul: “Politically, I think that would help him. In the scheme of things politically, you know, it looks like releasing tax returns is what the people want.”

The Fix: “The truth — in politics and in life — is almost always less damaging
than what the imagination can conjure. While the tax return debate is a
no-win for Romney, he’d be better to lance this political boil once and
for all. It’s not going away and if he doesn’t it’s only likely to
grow.”

The New York Times reports that Beth Myers, the longtime Mitt Romney confidant overseeing his vice presidential running mate search, has sought advice from previous presidential campaigns, including aides to Sen. John Kerry’s (D-MA) 2004 race who “warned against picking a candidate with unchecked ambitions.”

“I wish this president would learn how to be an American.”

— Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (R), quoted by BuzzFeed, on a conference call organized by Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign.