As this Romney "Paid no taxes" Scandal Develops, [View all]

[MineralMan]

and just before the GOP convention, I'm seeing a real crisis developing. The problem is simple: If Romney releases his tax filings and the story is true, it will be impossible for him to win the election. If he does not release those filings, then the story becomes automatically true in the minds of many voters, and he cannot win the election. That this information became public just before the convention puts Romney and the GOP in an extremely difficult position. What are the options?

1. Romney stonewalls - This will not work with the Convention, because further information will become available after the Convention that will destroy his candidacy. The GOP knows this, and knows they cannot do anything about it.
2. Romney caves and releases the filings - Disaster again, since he cannot possibly win if he truly paid no taxes for 10 years, and he'll drag down legislative candidates, too.
3. Romney withdraws from the race - This possibility saves Romney's ass, but there's not time to field a candidate who can win the Presidency at this late date, and the race and the GOP are already tarnished badly.
4. The GOP simply accepts that they will lose in November - attempts to minimize the damage and regroup. They nominate Romney and skulk off to lick their wounds. This seems the most likely course of events to me. They decide to punt, and give the other team the ball, and hope they can keep the game alive for the future.

Bottom Line: The GOP is in a lose-lose-lose-lose position. Millions of moderate Republicans become disgusted with the party and either skip the election or vote for the Democratic candidate in multiple races. The Democratic Party wins big.

Anyhow, that's how I'm seeing it today.