As in every presidential campaign, the road to the White House is a battlefield of attacks, investigations and tough questions for candidates. No political party is immune from challenges from their opponents with questions about their past, and maybe not even political, lives.

In 2008, then Senator Barack Obama encountered numerous attacks on his character. Claims that he was not a natural-born citizen of the United States, that he was a communist and also that he was a Muslim sparked many people to question voting for him. However, Obama prevailed and many of these claims have been put to rest or forgotten.

In the current presidential campaign, a recent development over republican candidate Mitt Romney has had many supporters and non-supporters questioning his past.

Romney has been established as a wealthy, successful capitalist to many voters. He co-founded Bain Capital and recent findings question when exactly he left the company, which has led people to question his financial values and honesty. Romney claimed to have left Bain in 1999, but the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission have revealed documents that show Romney was calling the shots until 2002.  

However, instead of clearing the air, the Romney camp have called for an apology from the Obama camp, which still stands by the SEC findings, according to the Huffington Post. This could be a big mistake for Romney, and rather than calling for an apology, he needs to be more up front about his past.

Furthermore, the fact that Romney has not released more years of his tax records adds to the confusion as to why he will not come clean about Bain and other financial matters. Romney has an estimated net worth up to $250 million.

In comparison, Obama released his tax records back to 2000 and McCain released his back to 2006 and 2007. For Romney, Bain Capital is like the ex-girlfriend Romney tries to crop out of his profile picture but everyone can still see her arm, as some online contributors have put it.

While the public wants to know more about Romney’s filings, that may just be another problem for middle and lower class voters trying to relate to him. However, that does not mean he should not reveal his tax filings. He claims to have nothing to hide and it is just a matter of getting them accurately put together, but it is taking a little bit too long for most Americans to believe that.

There’s no doubt that Romney is a successful, driven candidate who knows how to do business. However, is a scheming, untruthful person what America needs in the White House? Obviously, there is a problem with Congress and the American political system in terms of trust and approval ratings.

But when there are this many glaring problems with a candidate before he even gets to the White House, it raises red flags. This situation is much more serious. This is more than just rumors about religious affiliation or conspiracies about birthplace. This could land Romney a felony charge, but that likely will not happen. The Romney camp will need to do something to turn the tables if they want to keep afloat in the race.