I think there's more important things to worry about regardless.
If some of the tax shelters were illegal, I wouldn't look at it as a positive, that's for sure. I would still find it a minor issue compared to the current state of the Union, its economic sluggishness of nearly half a decade, and the jobless rates that show no signs of improvement in the near future.
Above everything else, I think the fact that a presidential election seems to be based around the proponents of both sides arguing on BEHALF of their side by saying "the other guy is actually WORSE than our guy, can you believe that!?!" says more about how piss-poor things are than anything.
I've said before that people tend to choose their political party more because of their dislike of the OTHER party than any real belief in the worth of their own party. People are always more fired up to vote AGAINST someone than they are to vote FOR someone. Right now there are a lot of people more than ready to vote AGAINST Obama...and the Obama campaign is working its ass off to find ways to get people fired up to vote against Romney, but potentially unflattering tax returns from years ago isn't going to have any legitimate impact on people who've lost their jobs, had their home values disintegrate, and find themselves being vilified by the current administration for not wanting to give up even more.
If the economy was revving forward, everyone had jobs, and the economic outlook was shining bright....then Romney's tax returns would be much higher on my list of "things to base my presidential vote on," but that's not the case.
These are great observations which apply to almost all U.S. and State political candidate campaigns today.
Generally speaking the public believes the President has more power to change things than they actually do during their time in office. We didn't get to the place we are now in the last 4 years or even the last 8 years. It has been a gradual and often painfully slow process. Unfortunately, with partisan politics being as bad as the currently are today, I doubt much is going to happen in Congress to make much of a noticeable change in the near future, regardless of whether Romney or Obama is elected for the next Presidential term.
You have clearly stated what you are not going to base your Presidential vote on. What isn't clear to me is what you believe are the important issues and characteristics in a candidate which will garner your vote.
One thing that strikes me about the economy and in particular the housing market, (which is particularly annoying to me because I wanted to downsize, but I am not willing to sell my home at it's current value, although I would still make a tidy profit) is that most people are looking outside themselves for someone to blame for this mess, when many people actually caused their own problems. This is particularly true of people who swallowed the idea that they deserved to live in (buy) a "McMansion" regardless that they made a pauper's wage in marginal jobs and in no way could afford the lifestyle to which they'd recently become accustomed. Now that their houses of cards has collapsed, they look to the government and the banking industry for someone to blame. Unfortunately, this is a sign of the times. Personal responsibility is not in many folks vocabulary these days.
A friend of mine was adamant the President Clinton should be impeached because he was morally corrupt (having sexual liaisons in the White house with interns). Even had he been exemplary in every other way. This circumstance, to her, made him unfit to serve as our President. Could it be some of us look for the wrong characteristics/qualifications in our President? Maybe we actually would benefit from having someone is is less than honest in his business dealings as President. If Romney is a successful tax evader, has a history of outsourcing jobs to third world countries and bankrupting the companies he was supposed to represent at a huge personal profit, he might be able to help this country get back on it's feet....ethics aside.
One of the past Presidents I most admire is President Carter. And look how ineffectual he was when he was President. Just goes to show, you might not want my advice when it comes to who to vote for as our next U.S. President.
