‘Capitalism’ and ‘rich’ are not dirty words, but–shhhh!–don’t tell the media that. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has been getting flayed by the liberal media over failure to release more of his tax returns, and because he has numerous investments and bank accounts in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. Romney is also the type of man who uses words like ‘guffawed’ in regular conversation. But are these reasons–his richness and his seeming inability to relate to the common man–sufficient to not vote for him?

Mitt Romney has done nothing illegal by chosing not to release his tax returns or provide detailed information about his personal financial investments. If Romney had filed false information on his tax returns or lied on documents that went to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), documents related to his time at the management consulting firm Bain and Company, it is virtually impossible that he would have made it this far in the presidential race. I’m going to assume that if Romney had done anything illegal he would be under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the SEC; but since he is not under investigation (that we know of) this may be a rare situation where smoke doesn’t indicate an actual fire.

I’m guessing that the reason Romney refuses to release the returns is because he either paid very little (for his income) or no taxes on millions of dollars in earnings by using various loopholes and tax write-offs. Everyone already knows Romney is filthy rich, so finding out that he made millions of dollars a years wouldn’t surprise anyone. What would leave many people in a state of shock and awe is if he paid no taxes on millions of dollars in earnings.

Mitt Romney has a public relations problem, not a tax problem. And because Romney has failed to provide an alternative narrative that works in his favor and is just as compelling as the “What Is He Trying to Hide by Not Revealing His Taxes?”-narrative that the liberal media is spinning, Romney is losing the public relations war.

But the media relations nightmare that the tax issue has ignited is only a symptom of Romney’s larger problem–people don’t think that a man as rich as Romney, a man who appears to have no idea what it’s actually like to be poor or working-class, can understand how to create policies that will benefit more people than just those who are fortunate enough to be extremely rich.

When Mitt Romney spoke at the NAACP convention he gave the same speech he always gives. The speech did not appear to be crafted to particularly appeal to his audience. When Romney vowed to repeal Obamacare, the audience booed him for 15 seconds. Some parts of the speech received polite applause, and a standing ovation was bestowed upon Romney when he finished. But Romney failed to give the audience any red meat, he failed to convince the crowd that he truly understood the problems that most black Americans want a president to address.

After the speech, Charlette Stoker Manning, the chairwoman of Women in NAACP told the website buzzfeed that Romney’s “vested interests are in white Americans.” Her words are stem from the belief that Mr. Romney does not understand the experience of African Americans who are struggling just to get by.”You cannot possibly talk about jobs for black people at the level he’s coming from. He’s talking about entrepreneurship, savings accounts — black people can barely find a way to get back and forth from work.”

Romney gets credit for accepting the NAACP’s invitation to speak. The same invitation was extended to President Obama, who sent Vice President Joe Biden in his stead.

Between avoiding discussion about his tax return and failing to adequately explain how his policies will benefit poor people, Romney has allowed himself to be painted into a corner. What is Romney going to do about his image problem? Right now it appears as if he can’t–or won’t–do anything that will help him fight in a battle where he seems to be losing.