"Face the Nation" transcripts, June 17, 2012: Gov. Romney, Senator Graham, Gov. Dean

MITT ROMNEY: You-- you are right. And-- and, perhaps, part of what I would be able to do flows from the fact that I-- I'm really not a guy that's going to from the next step in my political career. Bob, I don't have a political career. I served as governor for four years. I spent my life in the private sector. The private sector is where I've-- I've made my mark. I-- I'm in this race because I want to get America back on the right track. I don't care about reelections. I don't care about the-- the partisanship that goes on. I want to get America right. We're at a critical crossroads in this country, and if we keep going down the path we're on, we're going to become like Europe with chronic high unemployment with-- with wages that are stagnating, with fiscal crisis down the road. That's where we're heading. We have got to take an entirely new course in this country and it has to be adapted and-- to our current times, but I know what it takes to get America going again and America is poised. We're on the cusp of an extraordinary economic resurgence in this country, but it's going to take a different President with a different vision.

BOB SCHIEFFER: So you're not saying you're just intend to serve one term?

MITT ROMNEY: Oh, no, look, I'm going to do whatever I think is right to get America right, but for me this is not about politics. This is not about, did I win this or did they win this? This is about what can we do to get America right? And there are good Democrats and good Republicans who care about the country more than anything else and who know that we're getting very close to a dangerous cliff and we have got to pull back and we've got to work together. Heck, I was in a state where my legislature was eighty-seven percent Democrat. And we faced some tough times. We worked together. We-- I didn't get everything I wanted. They didn't get everything they wanted. They got most of what they wanted. And-- but we worked together. And that's got to happen in Washington. We've got to have people who're willing to put aside the partisanship, stop worrying about the next elections, and, say, you know what we've got to fix the country fast.

BOB SCHIEFFER: When we come back, more with Mitt Romney from his campaign bus.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

BOB SCHIEFFER: Let's talk a little politics. Why-- why the bus tour? What's this about?

MITT ROMNEY: Well, it's really a chance to get across the country, not just do the fund-raisers, which are part of everyday otherwise. But to see people across America, particularly in some of the small towns that don't typically get presidential politics.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Why these six states, these are six states that Barack Obama won last time out, right?

MITT ROMNEY: These are-- these are all states they I look forward to winning in the general election. And so I'm-- I'm making sure I-- I plant the flag, if you will.

BOB SCHIEFFER: You know this is Father's Day weekend. I know you were very close to your-- your father.

MITT ROMNEY: Yeah.

BOB SCHIEFFER: What does Father's Day mean to you?

MITT ROMNEY: Well, every time I think of my dad, it tugs at my heart strings. I mean, my dad was such an extraordinary person, born poor, raised poor, never graduated from college. Never-- never worried about the past, always looked forward, had such confidence in America that he went on to achieve great things in business and in government. I mean I look at my dad as one of a kind, spoke the truth, suffered for it politically from time to time, but didn't care about the politics of-- of truth. He said what he believed and-- and moved on.

BOB SCHIEFFER: You know somebody told me that during those primary debates when you would often write things down, they said, "you'll never guess what he wrote down." Share that with me. What did you write down?

MITT ROMNEY: Well, of course different notes in different circumstances but each time I wrote, dad, at the top of my page, reminding myself of-- of the sacrifice that he made in-- in his life, for his family, for us, and of his passion for America. So, yeah, dad was just three letters at the top of the page.

BOB SCHIEFFER: So I here you've got an Olympic athlete in the family.

MITT ROMNEY: Isn't that something. Yeah, it's not me. It's my wife, of course. She's the athlete. But in this case, it's not her personally. But she along with two other people purchased a horse and have trained it up and it's done so well that-- that the trainer and that horse are going on to represent the United States in the Olympics in London. So she's quite thrilled and I'm sure she'll be watching. I have a campaign to attend to, so I won't be able to see it perform but I'm-- I'm very pleased for her--

BOB SCHIEFFER: This is dressage.

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by paulovadas June 17, 2012 5:47 PM EDT: I am really surprised that such a veteran, experienced reporter as Bob Schiffer would allow Mitt Romney to lie so openly without a strong follow up question. When Romney said that Obama did not do anything on immigration for the past three years, Bob did not remind him of the Dream Act, filibustered by most of the republican senators and defeated even though a 55 senate majority voted for it. No wonder I and many other people are disappointed with the failure of the media in providing in depth analysis of the facts. Bob Schiffer should know better than to throw soft balls to such important office seekers as the presidency, and allow them to speak their talking points without questioning them forcefully. Gone are the days of the Edgar Morrows - what a pitty.; Reply to this comment