President Barack Obama's campaign team attacked Mitt Romney on Tuesday for not paying his "fair share" of taxes, escalating rhetoric against the top Republican presidential hopeful to try to paint him as an elitist who is out of touch with ordinary Americans.
Obama, who has made tax fairness a key part of his re-election message, will pile on the pressure later in the day at a speech in Florida, urging support for the Buffett Rule, named after billionaire investor and Obama supporter Warren Buffett. It calls for people making over $1 million a year to be taxed at a higher rate than middle-class families.
--- In push for Buffett Rule, Obama travels to Florida "Right now, the share of our national income flowing to the top 1 percent has climbed to levels last seen in the 1920s. And yet those same people are also paying taxes at one of the lowest rates in 50 years," Obama will say at Florida Atlantic University, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks.
Obama's populist message is a clear swipe at Romney, the wealthy Republican front-runner likely to face him in the November 6 election, as the Democratic president seeks to appeal to blue collar voters he will need to win a second term. "Mitt Romney opposes the Buffett Rule - he thinks millionaires and billionaires should keep paying lower tax rates than middle-class families. In fact, Romney himself isn't paying his fair share," the Obama campaign said in a statement.
The criticism on taxes is the second full-on assault against Romney in less than a week from the Obama campaign as it becomes clear that the former Massachusetts governor is likely to be the Republican candidate in November's election. The attacks signal a start to the general election campaign after months of Republican primaries which look likely to end with Romney as nominee.
A Washington Post-ABC poll on Tuesday showed Obama would win a match-up against Romney by 51 percent to 44 percent. But Romney had a double-digit advantage among Americans when it comes to reducing the federal budget deficit, and a narrow edge on managing the economy. Obama's push on tax fairness may also be falling on deaf ears in the swing states where the general election will likely be decided.
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