THK's Tax Returns And McCain

A senior aide to John Kerry, confirms that Teresa Heinz Kerry released the first two pages of her 1040 form for 2003. (See them here.) The other McCain campaign explanation, then, is operative: that the campaign will not release information about Cindy McCain because of concerns for the privacy of her children. This excuse may be enough for now -- it's not clear whether the Obama campaign has an appetite to go into this with McCain, but it will return in the fall. In the age of the Internet, transparency is, for many, the dominant political value. Some other points: McCain has filled out many Senate personal financial disclosure forms but has only released two years worth of a tax returns. McCain's advisers will say that McCain has never violated the public's trust** and that he has been and will be very careful to avoid entanglements and conflicts of interests. But in a general election versus Barack Obama, with both candidates showing off how clean they are, there will be intense political pressure on both candidates to (a) one up each other in terms of disclosure and (b) match each level of disclosure. ** = Keating Five. McCain has said that he regrets the appearance of impropriety; he was reprimanded by the Senate ethics committee for showing "poor judgment; he has said that the affair sparked a self-examination and his later commitment to reform. See here.