OK short and sweet diary...
Hillary Clinton in 2000...
Mr. Lazio pledged to release his tax returns soon after entering the Senate race in May, but had not done so, raising suspicions about whether he had the kind of financial problems that have tripped up other politicians in New York in recent decades.
The campaign of his Democratic opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton, criticized the delay, asking whether he was hiding something.
So what did the Clinton campaign do? Sent out Howard Wolfson in a clown suit...
More on the flip...
Representative Rick A. Lazio has attracted an unbidden guest at some of his campaign events this week: a Democratic lackey in an impressively garish Uncle Sam costume who taunts Mr. Lazio over his failure to release copies of his income tax returns.
Call it sophomoric or tacky (Lazio partisans call it much worse). Still, the jeers have helped draw attention to a question that has hung over Mr. Lazio: Why has he not yet disclosed his tax returns, particularly given the long history of politicians in New York stumbling over this issue?
Release your tax records, Hillary Cinton. Or drop out.
UPDATE: Americablog has more, with a great story from Newsday.com
...it seems more like a reflection of the way Hillary and her team think. Principled people would reason as follows: "Since we made a huge fuss about Lazio's returns in 2000, to be consistent we should be very diligent about being just as transparent as Obama and releasing our own returns this year. Otherwise, we would be behaving like hypocrites."
But that's not what they're doing. So the reasoning is apparently this: "We acted like Lazio's tax returns were a big deal in 2000 because it was in our self-interest to do so, and this year we'll act like our returns aren't a big deal because it's in our self interest to do so. We don't act on principle, and we don't care about being consistent, and we don't care about being hypocritical."
Is there another explanation? If not -- what a great role model for our daughters!!!