Romney tax return pressure persists

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Under heavy pressure to release more tax returns, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney accused President Barack Obama on Wednesday of demonizing business success.

"This idea of criticizing and attacking success, of demonizing those in all walks of life who have been successful is so foreign to us we simply don't understand it," Romney told a townhall-style meeting in the swing state of Ohio.

He accused Obama of denigrating free enterprise by saying in Virginia last week that "if you have a business, you didn't build that," a comment about how companies cannot succeed alone but also need public services like roads and bridges.

Romney did not mention his time as a private equity executive or his personal finances, two issues that the Obama campaign has latched on to as evidence that the wealthy former Massachusetts governor is out of touch.

Obama's campaign said in ads this week that Romney has something to hide by not releasing multiple tax returns, and suggested he may have paid no taxes at all in some years.

Some Republicans have also urged Romney to release the returns to put an end to the issue and bring the debate about the Nov. 6 election back to Obama's handling of the economy.

For the second day in a row, Romney was greeted by enthusiastic crowds in a Rust Belt swing state, after campaigning in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

He answered a member of the audience who referred to Obama as "this monster." "That's not a term I would use," Romney said. (Editing by Alistair Bell and Cynthia Osterman)