Obama defends attacks on Romney's Bain record
President Barack Obama says it's "hardly a personal attack" for his campaign to target Mitt Romney's background with the private equity firm Bain Capital.
In an interview with a Cleveland TV station (WEWS), the president says the focus "goes to the rationale for his candidacy," and the public should know if companies Romney's firm took over sent jobs overseas.
Romney is campaigning in Pittsburgh today, where the Obama camp is airing an ad questioning whether the candidate's reluctance to release his personal tax returns may be because he's avoided paying his share of taxes.
Romney has released his 2010 tax return, which showed he paid an effective tax rate of about 15 percent, and has promised to release his 2011 return.
Romney is counterattacking with accusations of cronyism. His campaign contends that Obama's Energy Department has steered loans and grants to companies run by his political supporters. The Obama campaign says those decisions "were made without regard to political connections" and grants have gone to projects with "robust connections" to Republican donors.
AP
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