Yesterday it was the WaPo, wacking him for his apparent change of position on Iraq; today it is the NY Times, calling for full disclosure of his military, medical, and tax records. The lowlights:
...[Mr. Kerry's] team seemed caught off guard in delivering on his promise of full disclosure of his war records.
...We hope the senator realizes that there cannot be too much disclosure by a candidate seeking the trust of the public for the nation's highest office.
With this high standard in mind, we urge that the candidate's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, release her tax returns. Limited financial records of Mrs. Heinz Kerry, a millionaire heiress, are available as part of the Senate's disclosure requirements. Beyond that, Mrs. Heinz Kerry points out that she is not the candidate and deserves some privacy.
But, again, the path to the presidency can be rooted only in winning the public's trust; numerous past candidates have acknowledged that extra burdens are fairly placed on close family members. Geraldine Ferraro learned that the hard way 20 years ago. The Mondale-Ferraro ticket was bogged down for a month of controversy before Ms. Ferraro finally prodded her husband, John Zaccaro, to release his tax records.
Beyond that precedent, Mrs. Heinz Kerry's personal fortune has already come into political play. The senator took out a $6 million loan on one of their houses to help finance his campaign. They may file separate tax returns, but the comfort of the Kerrys' assets is a fact of life in the senator's campaign. The public is entitled to more detail, even though nothing nefarious has been alleged.
...Why delight critics, and irritate supporters, with a bout of stonewalling that's hardly worth the fight?
This is the first time the Times has made a substantive comment about Kerry's tax situation recently, so I am delighted that the question has not fully slipped their mind.
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