Afternoon Read: O'Malley Introduces New Attack Against Romney

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley just added some more ammo to the arsenal of attacks against Mitt Romney.

O’Malley, according to Buzzfeed, said the public should be suspicious of Romney because in 2008 Sen. John McCain considered Romney to be his vice president, but picked Sarah Palin instead.

VIA Buzzfeed:

"What about running for the office of the presidency this year makes it less important than the job that he didn't get over Palin the last time around?" O'Malley asked BuzzFeed, referencing the 23 years of returns Romney allowed McCain to examine while he was being vetted but hasn't released to the public.

In an interview at the National Governors Association he said he doesn’t know if anything in the returns would disqualify him, but that’s precisely why Dems want to see them.

"But why would you pick somebody — why would you pick Palin over Romney?" he asked.

McDonnell, of course, was also at the National Governors Association meeting in Virginia, where he criticized the president's handling of the economy and national debt.

VIA RTD:

"It seems like about at every turn the policies of this president on energy, on jobs, on defense, on taxes are hurting our ability...to getting (Virginians) more access to the American Dream," McDonnell told reporters at a press event for Republican candidate Mitt Romney at Colonial Truck and Trailer Service, along with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.

* Ryan Nobles of NBC 12 in Richmond reports that Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is about to release a document which makes the claim that there is a connection between former Governor Tim Kaine and convicted murderer Jens Soering, prior to Kaine being elected to public office.

VIA Nobles:

Kaine, then a practicing civil rights attorney in Richmond, wrote a three page supportive affidavit that was then used on Soering’s behalf. The affidavit package appears to show Kaine offering assistance to Soering’s defense team in seeking relief from a potential capital punishment sentence.

Read the full story here:

* Breaking News: Mayor Vincent Gray has never smoked pot. At least that’s what he told Loose Lips, who followed him as he did a neighborhood walk-through in which apparently chastised storeowners selling drug paraphernalia.

* Mayor Vincent Gray appeared on NewsChannel 8’s NewsTalk this morning and responded to some of his colleagues' calls for him to resign.

Grey largely dismissed council members David Catania and Muriel Bowser’s resignation calls, but said he was hurt by Mary Cheh’s.

VIA Post:

“I would have even appreciated something other than just a phone call. ... I got a voice mail message that said she was going to do that. She could have come upstairs and said, ‘Let me sit down and talk with you about this.’ I was a bit surprised about that.”

* O'Malley said Friday that he plans to decide within the next week or so whether to call a special legislative session on expanded gambling, according to The Post.

* The latest Romney ad to hit Virginia:

 * Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned on behalf of Mitt Romney in Richmond Friday and defended Romney’s time at Bain.

VIA Post:

“His job at Bain Capital was to create returns for his investors, to make his investors money,” Giuliani said. “That was his job. Nothing else. ... He made them millions, and millions, and millions of dollars.”
 

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