The Case of the Senator Who Did Not Bark

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

From electoralvote.com:

As the controversy over Mitt Romney's tax returns continues, the one person other than Romney himself who could settle this has been completely silent. That would be Sen. John McCain, who inspected 23 years of Romney's tax returns in 2008 when he was considering Romney as a possible running mate. All he would have to do is hold a press conference and say: "Harry Reid is wrong. I personally saw Romney's tax returns going back over two decades and he paid federal income tax every year." But McCain has said nothing at all at a moment he could help Romney and hurt Reid. Why? It seems very strange. Maybe Reid is right and McCain knows this.

Hee, hee....

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. So why doesn't some intrepid reporter ask McCain exactly that?

It's not like McCain's ever shied away from a mic or a camera...

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

2. I suspect McCain's staff is forming a "human shield" between the Senator and all journalists...

And McCain will probably slough off with "I never personally looked at his returns; they were looked at by my campaign staff"

[former9thward]

3. They have.

McCain said there were no problems. http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/07/mccain-personally-vouches-for-romneys-returns.html

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. McCain's not vouching for Rmoney having paid taxes during the years in question.

Only that whatever's there doesn't technically disqualify him. So he hired great accountants and legally avoided federal taxes. I don't think anyone's accusing Rmoney of being a tax cheat. Legally, anyway. Not necessarily morally or ethically.

McCain also reiterated his real message: There's nothing in Romney's tax returns that would disqualify him as a candidate, and McCain will "personally vouch" for that. In what's probably a reference to Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel suggesting on ABC's This Week that McCain picked Palin after seeing Romney's returns, McCain added that he's only weighing in because of the "scurrilous, scurrilous Chicago style sleaze intimations with no basis in fact whatsoever." Oddly, although there's supposedly nothing damaging in Romney's tax returns, McCain still doesn't think he should cave to those demanding to see them. "So if your opponent makes a big deal out of some issue then you’re supposed to do something that no one else has done?" said McCain.

[former9thward]

5. McCain's statement can be interpreted several ways.

Yours is one of them. I think that if he hadn't paid taxes in 10 years that would politically "disqualify him as a candidate." My point in posting was to those who seem to think McCain has been silent on this such as the OP said.

I do think Romney has paid income taxes over the past 10 years. He has filed yearly financial disclosure forms with the FEC, which are on the net, back to 2002. Based on those it would be impossible not to have paid income taxes during the period.