"Face the Nation" transcripts, August 26, 2012: Rubio, Priebus, Barbour, Blackburn

(CBS News) Below is a transcript of "Face the Nation" on August 26, 2012, hosted by CBS News' Bob Schieffer. Guests include: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour; RNC Chairman Reince Priebus; and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. Roundtable participants include: Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, National Review editor Rich Lowry, Washington Post reporter Dan Balz, CBS This Morning co-host Norah O'Donnell, and CBS News political director John Dickerson.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Today on FACE THE NATION, from Tampa, Florida, here come the Republicans, and here comes the storm, but who will get here first?

MITT ROMNEY: We'll soon be having a convention in Tampa, Florida. I'm told the weather may be a little iffy there.

BOB SCHIEFFER: He got that right. Republicans have already canceled Monday's session. But how much rain will fall on Mitt Romney's parade? We'll get the latest on the storm; and we'll get the latest on the convention run-up from Florida's Senator Marco Rubio, a rising star in the Republican Party. He will lay out their choices this election presents and defend Mitt Romney's Medicare plan.

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO (Florida Senator): For Barack Obama and many in the Democratic Party, this is not about saving Medicare. This is about how they can use Medicare as a political weapon in an election.

BOB SCHIEFFER: We'll also talk to key Republicans, party Chair Reince Priebus, party platform Chair Marsha Blackburn, and former Mississippi Governor, Haley Barbour about a campaign that suddenly shifted from jobs and the economy to Medicare and abortion. For analysis we will be joined by Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal; Rich Lowry of the National Review, Fox News, and TIME Magazine; Dan Balz of the Washington Post, and our own Norah O'Donnell and John Dickerson. Get to the high ground and we will talk some politics because this is FACE THE NATION.

ANNOUNCER: And now from the site of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, FACE THE NATION with Bob Schieffer.

BOB SCHIEFFER: And good morning again. We are here on the floor of the Republican Convention in Tampa, but just to see what may be headed our way, we want to start by going to Dave Bernard of our Miami Station WFOR, for the very latest on this storm track. David, what do you know?

DAVID BERNARD (WFOR-Miami): Well, good morning, Bob. Tropical Storm Isaac is moving across South Florida this morning, the worst the storm has to offer, moving through Miami and also the Florida Keys, as we speak. The latest position on the storm about one hundred and thirty-five miles east-southeast of Key West and winds are sixty-five miles per hour.

Now look at the future track. This is projected to become a hurricane later today or tonight and be just west of the Tampa area in the eastern Gulf of Mexico late tonight and during the day tomorrow. So the worst weather in Tampa will be late tonight and on Monday. But there's growing concern this morning, Bob, that a very strong hurricane is heading for the northern Gulf Coast, and anywhere from New Orleans east to the Florida Panhandle needs to be on watch. In fact this morning, hurricane watches have now been posted for the northern Gulf Coast. They don't include New Orleans right now but we can't say that New Orleans is off the hook. We are going to watch it very closely over the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Okay, well, thank you very much, Dave.

And that's the news outside. Getting back to the business inside, it has been a while since we've gone into an election when the choices the two parties have presented have been so different. This week we'll be concentrating on the Republican side. Next week we'll turn to the Democrats. To start us off with where Republicans see this campaign right now, we sat down with Florida's Senator Marco Rubio, who will introduce Mitt Romney to this convention on Thursday night.

Senator, thank you very much--

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO (R-Florida): Thank you.

BOB SCHIEFFER: --for joining us. Let's just start with the news. The President has given an interview to The Associated Press in which he describes Mitt Romney in the most scathing words yet. He says, "Romney has locked himself into extreme positions." He says, "He lacks serious ideas." He says, "He refuses to own up to the responsibilities of what it takes to be President and deals in factually dishonest arguments."

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Bob, I think it's important to set the facts straight first. And that, you know, obviously, this President was elected four years ago with a promise that he knew how to make things better. But things have not gotten better for millions of Americans. And so Barack Obama can't run by saying vote for me because things have gotten better. Vote for me because my ideas have worked. So I think you're going to see more and more of this type of rhetoric on his behalf because he really doesn't have anything else to run on.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Among the issues that the President says Mitt Romney has taken extreme positions on are these across-the-board tax cuts. He singles out opposition to tax credits for producers of wind energy. He said he's making it impossible for people to get into the middle class.

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Well, what grows the middle class and that's what I think Mitt Romney understands and Barack Obama does not is the creation of new businesses, and the starting of new businesses. That doesn't happen because of tax increases or some government program. That starts because somebody has the confidence and the money to invest in the American economy. So the job of government is to make it easier for people to do that. Right now people lack the confidence and in many cases lack the money. And the bottom line is that there is no tax increase that helps grow the economy. Now certainly you have to generate revenue for government, and that's why you want the economy to grow but tax increases don't help people start a business. It doesn't give people the confidence to go out and expand an existing business and create new jobs. That's how the middle class grows, not-- not through some government program.

BOB SCHIEFFER: The President also in this interview hit Mister Romney on abortion. He predicted that if a President Romney is elected, he would not stand in the way if Congress gave him a bill that stripped away women's control over their reproductive health. He's basing this on the party platform, which states opposition to abortion, but does not take into account any kind of exception.

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Well, I think what's important to understand, yes, Mitt Romney is pro-life and the Republican Party--although it has diversity on this issue--is the home of the pro-life movement in American politics so are growing number of Americans by the way; and there's an increasing amount of evidence from public polling that the highest number of Americans ever identify themselves as pro-life. And for those of us who are pro-life, like myself, this is not an issue about denying anyone rights. This is an issue about protecting the rights of a human being to live irrespective of what stage and development they may be. And so, I think that's what Mitt Romney and the Republican Party stand for. And I understand that America is divided on that issue. I understand that-- that there's people of good faith and goodwill, could have differences of opinions. But those of us who are pro-life believe strongly in the sanctity of life and that that life should be protected by our laws. And it's not about denying anyone rights, it's about protecting the right of human beings that have not yet been born.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Do you think that's a good issue to be running a campaign on?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Well, look, I don't think that's the issue that people wake up in the morning and it's the first thing on their minds on a daily basis but I think it's always an important issue. I mean life is a fundamental issue. It will always matter. And any-- in fact, it's in our Declaration Of Independence, one of the first right-- God-given rights that it delineates is the right of life and then of course liberty and pursuit-- and the pursuit of happiness. So, I think that's always will be a relevant issue. And I think it will always come up because of that. But I think we're capable of discussing the issue of life in an intellectually honest way that's true to our principles and at the same time make it very clear to the American people that we understand what it takes to grow the economy and that we have policies that actually make that happen.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, that's-- that's one of the things I want to talk to you about because this race seems to have turned from a referendum on President Obama in a bad economy to a referendum on Paul Ryan and Medicare. Is that a good strategy?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Well, I'm not sure it's a referendum on Paul Ryan and-- and Medicare. I do think it's a referendum on whether we're willing to confront the big issues that our country faces or are we willing to let our children inherit our problems? And here's the bottom line for Medicare--I'll-- I'll speak for myself on this--I represent about three million people here in Florida that have Medicare. One of them is my mom eighty-three years old and I--I don't know what-- I can't imagine what her life would be like without Medicare. So I, on a personal level, but also as a senator from a state with so many people that are on Medicare, I want Medicare to be saved. And I want to do in a way that doesn't change Medicare at all for people that are currently on it, like my mom, but also ensures that it doesn't bankrupt itself so it exists when I retire. Paul Ryan is the only one in Congress together with Senator Wyden, because they worked together on this, that have come up with a serious plan to address it. Mitt Romney has a plan to address it. Where's the President's plan? Where's the Democrats' plan? So, yes, I think it's good for America to begin to talk about how do we save Medicare because anyone who is in favor of leaving Medicare the way it is right now is in favor of bankrupting it.

BOB SCHIEFFER: But just from the standpoint of politics, I mean, I've got to tell you, the Obama campaign seems delighted with this turn in the campaign. The President out this weekend saying, you know, I'm the one that's going to take care of Medicare, criticizing the Romney and all of that. They seem delighted that this is now a campaign about Medicare.

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Well, that tells-- well, that tells me two things. The first it tells me is they're not serious about solving the problem. It proves what I've been saying all along, and that is that for Barack Obama and many in the Democratic Party, this is not about saving Medicare. This is about how they can use Medicare as a political weapon in an election and I think that's sad.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, I mean it's about as close as it can get here in Florida right now, this race. Is Mitt Romney going to win Florida?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: He is. He is going to win Florida and the reason why he's going to win Florida above everything else is because Florida is a state with a lot of people that irrespective of how they may feel about Barack Obama now were really excited about him in 2008. But I personally know people that have never voted for a Democrat who voted for him in 2008 because they loved what his candidacy said about America and they were hoping he would be some sort of a new figure in American politics that would elevate the political discourse and help our country move forward on the things we all agree on. Now, that Barack Obama is long gone. As I-- as I've said repeatedly hope and change has been replaced by divide and conquer. Even in this interview he gave with Mitt Romney today I mean that's not the same person that ran four years ago. And, look, I don't agree with Barack Obama on a lot of things but the one thing I knew back in 2008 when he was elected was that he had a very unique, perhaps the most unique opportunity ever of any modern American President to bring our nation together on high-minded things. He's decided to go in a very different direction and I-- I think that's going to disappoint a lot of people here in Florida and already has.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Do you think the tone has-- has changed in?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: I mean, you just need to look at some of these ads. I mean when you think about the President's allies have run in ad basically accusing Mitt Romney of being personally responsible for the death of some woman because she lost-- a poor lady who lost her health insurance. I mean that-- that-- that's just outrageous. They have accused him of being a felon, basically. They ran another ad that compared him to a vampire. I mean, so certainly, I think, that, yes, I mean I don't remember seeing any of those ads in 2008 from the Obama campaign. But I think we understand why. He can't run on his record. Look the fundamental question that every President has to answer is, am I better off-- are people better off today than they were four years ago. And he can't look at the American people with a straight face and say you are better off today than you were four years ago. So, he doesn't want it to be about that. So, that's why he is talking this way.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Friday, Mitt Romney made what he called a joke in his home state of Michigan. Here's what he said:

MITT ROMNEY: Oh, I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. No one has ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised.

BOB SCHIEFFER: The Obama campaign immediately seized on this and said he's trying to associate himself with the most strident voices in the Republican Party, the birthers, Donald Trump and all of that. What's your take on that?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Well, my take on it is that there is no debate in my mind about where the President was born and whether he is qualified to hold office on the basis of his birth. The President himself has joked about it. And-- and now, you know, obviously, we live in a political environment where we should be careful about everything we say. I can tell you I've heard Mitt Romney repeatedly address this issue and debunk it as a nonissue. Our quarrel with the President is not about his birth certificate. Our quarrel with the President is about an eight-hundred-billion-dollar stimulus that failed, about a debt that continues to grow.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Here we are on the eve of the Republican Convention, and there have been some distractions here. I mean you can't do anything about the weather. We all know that. But you know, you had this group of Republican congressmen that we now know about going swimming in the Sea of Galilee, some without their-- without their swimsuits and then this fellow comes along in this Senate race down in Missouri, Mister Akin, questioning whether people who are raped, if they have the ability to not get pregnant. Everybody I know of stature in the Republican Party has called on this guy to get out of the race, including Mitt Romney but he's still there. Should Mitt Romney take stronger steps to-- to tell this fellow to go find something else to do?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: I think he has and others have as well, including Paul Ryan has called him. Here-- here's the thing, though, the decision is his to make. Ultimately, all we can do is inform someone in the position that he's in right now of what it means for our chances to win a seat that we should win, and what that means for the country. Because if Republicans get a majority in the Senate, this country will-- will be that much closer to getting things turned around. So that's where the stakes are. When you make comments like that, in addition to being offensive to people like myself and many others, they also hurt your chances of winning. And so I think he's been informed of that. Ultimately he has to make the decision he feels is right. But-- but I think everyone has informed him of what the political consequences of this are and have also publically stated how strongly they disagree with what he said, but he won the primary. It's-- he's going to have to make that decision. There is no way to force him out of it.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Do you think if he stays in he could actually hurt the national ticket and hurt other Republicans by just drawing attention to this.

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Bob, the comment-- apart from the bigger issue of the politics nationally, I think ultimately the race is going to be decided on what Mitt Romney stands for and what he is going to do if he's elected versus what Barack Obama has done now that he is in the last four years. As far as that particular race is concerned, absolutely, I believe his statements make it much more difficult, borderline impossible, perhaps, for him to win that race, and it has been clearly communicated to him, both publicly and privately by a whole host of voices. So we'll see what decision he makes going forward.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Now you're going to introduce Governor Romney at the convention. How is that speech coming along? And give us a little insight into how-- how that works. Well-- what-- what will be the tone? What will be the line you will take care?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: You know I think the-- the two things I think that will be clear by the end of this week is that this-- this election is not just a choice between two men or two political parties. It's literally a choice about which direction we want this country to go. Do we think that the way forward is for us to become more like the rest of the world or is the way forward for us to help the rest of the world become more like us, a nation that's bought into free enterprise. That believes that opportunity is created when people are given the confidence and the ability to go out and start businesses and grow existing businesses and then what can government do to help that happen. And so I think the stakes is important for people to understand what's at stake here. We're not just voting for the person we like more. We're also voting for two very different directions for our country. And in addition to that, I hope people understand who Mitt Romney is. Because his-- his business career has been well documented and his success is-- is extraordinary in the business realm, but he's so much more than that.

He was a successful governor. The job he did at the Olympics in Salt Lake City was extraordinary by all accounts. And then look at his personal life. This man is a personal role model to young men-- younger men like me, as a father, as a husband. You look how successful his family has been. Any-- everywhere that he has ever gone, whether in his church or his community, he has made it better using his talents and his time. I think Mitt Romney is a role model for-- for-- for-- for people like me and-- and I think that Mitt Romney as a person especially, and the kind of person we would all be proud for our kids to grow up and be like.

BOB SCHIEFFER: How-- how does this work? I know at some conventions in the past, the candidate staff has written a speech. Are-- do you-- will you tell them what's in the speech?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: No.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Will they suggest things to you? How does that work?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: You know, that's-- they actually have not asked me to say anything in particular other than understanding I'm going before Governor Romney. The, you know, usually I don't even write speeches. I-- I have general thoughts. But this one of course is a big one so I will. And I-- I write these myself for the most part with some help in terms of just getting it framed right. But-- but I usually want my own words to come through and I look forward to doing that. Look at-- my only wish is that my-- my dad and my grandfather were still around to see it. My mom is and has been and-- because I think in many ways that speech affirms that-- that what's made us great as a nation is not that we have the more rich people than anybody else but that it's a country where dreams that are impossible everywhere else are possible here.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Let me-- since you brought up your parents, of course they were immigrant, President Obama issued a directive that we would no longer deport the children of illegal aliens who were brought into this country as children. Governor Romney will not say whether he intends to repeal that, whether he intends to let it stay in place or what he intends to do about it if he's elected.

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Well, I can't speak for Governor Romney. In my opinion here-- here's my problem with it. First of all, to identify what the goal is. The goal is to help and accommodate these young people who find themselves here without documents, through no fault of their own, they were brought here as children, have grown up their entire lives and have so much to contribute to our future to help accommodate them but to do so in a way that doesn't encourage or reward illegal immigration in the future. And that's a difficult balancing act and we were working on something like that. And, unfortunately, the President, rather than helping us work on it, actually instructed some DREAM Act advocates to not work with us. I mean this was documented I believe in The Washington Post that-- that he met with the activists and said do not or his-- White House did, do not work with them on the solution. Instead they've come up with a stopgap solution. Let me tell you. We will never solve our broken legal immigration system and we will never be able to compassionately deal with the people in this country who are here in undocumented status as long as this issue is a political volleyball tossed between two parties who use it against each other to raise money and gain votes.

BOB SCHIEFFER: But-- but don't you think that the Governor owes it to the American people to tell them what he's going to do about this before he's elected?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: Well, I think what the Governor has basically said is what he's-- he starts by telling them what he's not going to do. That we're not going to do twelve million people amnesty. The DREAM Act as it's currently structured I do not support, neither does the Governor, neither do many Americans. What he does support is a legal immigration system that works. He has detailed that. He has detailed what he would do to help ensure that we keep our best and our brightest, how he help keep families together here in the United States. How we-- how we, you know, a million people a year immigrate here legally. We should celebrate that. The fact that a million people a year permanently immigrate to the United States legally every year, no other in the count-- no other country in the world even comes close.

BOB SCHIEFFER: After the hard line on immigration that people heard Republicans take during the-- the primary season, what would you say to a Hispanic about why they ought to vote Republican?

SENATOR MARCO RUBIO: You know, the num-- the dominant theme in the Hispanic community is the desire to leave their kids better off than themselves. This is not a theory to me. I lived it. I mean I saw my parents work very hard many years so that everything that was impossible for them was possible for me. There's only one economic system in the world where that's consistently been able to happen, and that's the American free enterprise system, which the President is undermining and which Mitt Romney understands and will support.

And that's the American free enterprise system, which the President is undermining, and which Mitt Romney understands and will support. And that's the fundamental argument. Now the immigration issue is important. For a Hispanic family and a Hispanic voter in this country, immigration is not a statistical issue. They know someone who is in this predicament. It's a human issue to them. So we have to have-- we have to be clear that people understand that Republicans are the pro-legal immigration party. But beyond that issue this idea of economic empowerment and leaving your kids better off than yourself, I mean, that's number one issue in America and it's really important for Hispanics.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

We'll be back in a minute with the former and current chairs of the Republican Party--Haley Barbour and Reince Priebus--and Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, in a minute.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

BOB SCHIEFFER: And we're back now from the floor of the Republican National Convention here in Tampa. Joining me now Haley Barbour, former chairman of the Republican National Committee; Reince Priebus, the current chair; and Representative Marsha Blackburn, who is the chair of the Republican Platform Committee for this convention.

Mister Priebus, let me just start with you. Let's talk a little bit about the weather first.

REINCE PRIEBUS (Republican National Committee Chair): Sure.

BOB SCHIEFFER: You canceled to-- tomorrow's activities. Is there a chance you may have to cancel the rest of this thing?

REINCE PRIEBUS: No. We're-- we're a hundred percent on, Bob. And, you know, we've got to put the safety of our delegates and guests first. You know some of the background here was that we know the tropical storm or hurricane is far off the coast of Tampa. So it's not a terribly hazardous situation, except we couldn't be assured that the buses coming across the bridges out to Clearwater and St. Pete would be safe with driving wind and rain. The second piece was the Secret Service took out all the tenting outside of the forum. So what that meant was fewer entrances, and our guests and delegates would be waiting outside in driving rain. The last thing is-- is, obviously, you can't be assured what would happen on Monday if you had a full arena, and then get-- couldn't get people out of here. So, I mean it's an obvious choice, safety first. We're going to go on with the convention on Tuesday, and we're going to have a great nomination. We're going to tell America why we need to fire Barack Obama and save America.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, we have to cut this off here because of those little technical difficulties. We'll continue this discussion on page two of FACE THE NATION. We'll be right back.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

BOB SCHIEFFER: For the next two weeks we're going to hear some super sales jobs. Here in Tampa, Republicans make their case. Next week it will be the Democrats' turn. Here's the thing--both sides may face a bigger challenge than they know. After a year of relentless negative advertising and mudslinging by both sides, guess what? Voters have decided they don't find much to admire on either side. The USA TODAY-Gallup Poll says that for the first time at this point in at least six elections, voters see both parties in an unfavorable light. Forty-one percent of voters now call themselves independent. Only thirty-one percent call themselves Democrats; even fewer, twenty-eight percent call themselves Republicans. That may surprise both sides but maybe not the rest of us, because how could it be otherwise. With Congress headed toward the least productive session since 1947 and mind you it did nothing last year--when we were entertained by tales of drunk Congressmen taking midnight swims in the Sea of Galilee--one forgot his suit--another claimed he was just getting a little water to baptize his daughter--the wonder is that anyone views either party in a favorable light anymore. So the party salesmen will have their work cut out for them here these next two weeks. In the meantime, I was wondering what would happen if either candidate just say-- just said, "You know, this may sound crazy, but I'd like to get together with the leaders on other side and see if there's a way we could work something out to get the country moving again." Now, that would never work. It's too radical. Still, I wonder.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

BOB SCHIEFFER: Some of our stations are leaving us now. For most of you, we'll be right back with more from our panel and more on Campaign 2012.

Stay with us. We'll be right here.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

BOB SCHIEFFER: Welcome back to FACE THE NATION. We're here on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, and we're talking to Haley Barbour, Reince Priebus, and Marsha Blackburn. At last we're going to get to talk to you.

Haley Barbour, you've been to a lot of these things. You were chair of the-- of the party at one point. Do you somehow feel like Republicans just can't seem to get a break these last couple of weeks? We had these Congressmen I just talked about they're swimming around in the Sea of Galilee. And then this fella Akin comes along with this bizarre twist on-- on abortion and all of that. And then the weather hits. Can you get it back?

HALEY BARBOUR (Former Mississippi Governor/Former Republican National Committee Chair): Well, I'll tell you, you know, obviously, Obama and Democrats want to change the subject to anything but Obama's record. So I'm-- I'm sure they're out there praying for rain. But, you know, they go even further than that. You take this Todd Akin guy that you've been talking about in Missouri; Harry Reid, the Democrat Senate leaders PAC put more than a million dollars into the Republican primary contest to help Todd Akin win the Republican nomination. Now we know why. But the fact is at the end of the day the American people know this election is going to be a referendum on-- on President Obama's record. Marco Rubio said it--are you better off than you were four years ago? Is America better off than it was four years ago? And Barack Obama wants the conversation to be about anything else.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Congresswoman or you like to be called Congressman, don't you?

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN: Congressman Marsha, whatever. I am just focused on getting the job done.

BOB SCHIEFFER: What about this guy Akin? I mean here Mitt Romney comes out. I mean it seems to me like there was a time in politics when the leaders could get together and tell somebody to take a hike. You can't really do that somehow anymore.

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-Tennessee): Well, you know, I have to tell you, in our party, when somebody commits a Biden-ism, like Akin did, you know, his remarks are indefensible, they are disgusting, they're-- just you can say all sorts of things. But the thing is we do speak out about it. Here's the thing, the American people are talking about jobs, the economy, and doing something with this national debt. The debt clock is running. We're almost to sixteen trillion dollars, and I think more than ever before the American people are saying, tell me how you're going to get us out of this. It's the number one issue with women, jobs, the economy. Number two is getting Obamacare off the books. Women are the drivers when it comes to health-- health care. All these distractions, they look at as distractions, and they're saying, "How do we get this country back to work? Tell me what your plan is."

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, but down there in that-- that Senate race down there, he was running ahead, Akin, was, of the Democrat by about three or four points. I think it's now flipped, and I think the Democrat Claire McCaskill is up by about seven. Mister Priebus, are you guys going to let that stand or--

REINCE PRIEBUS: We've been pretty clear on how we feel about Todd Akin's comments. You know, I--

BOB SCHIEFFER: Yeah. But he's still there.

REINCE PRIEBUS: I think I've labeled them biologically stupid. But-- you know, and-- and this is why we've asked him to-- to step aside and let someone else take over, which we have a few weeks to get that done, is that if-- if it's really about liberty and freedom, which we believe it is, and if it really is about changing the course of-- of this country off the-- the Barack Obama pathway that we're on, then Todd Akin has to put the cause above himself and realize that we can have a better chance in that seat. And-- and, you know, so we're moving on. We're-- we're worried about electing Mitt Romney president. We're-- we're worried about holding the President accountable, telling the Mitt Romney story here next week, and that's what we're focused in on, Bob.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, Miss Blackburn, it says what you all said in the beginning, this is going to be all about the economy. But what I'm wondering, how do you get it back to that, Governor Barbour? I mean what has to happen at this convention?

HALEY BARBOUR: Well, I was going to say, Bob, the first thing is, if your first four questions are about it, it's kind of hard getting-- getting the subject back on the economy when you want to talk about Todd Akin. The fact of the matter--

BOB SCHIEFFER: I want to talk about the news.

HALEY BARBOUR: You know, the fact to the matter is in America Marco Rubio talks about the biggest source of new jobs are new businesses, new small businesses. Last year where there's lowest number of new small businesses started in America in decades. In the Obama, quote, "recovery," the average American family according to the Census Bureau, lost twenty-five hundred dollars a year in real per family income, twenty-five-hundred-dollar-a-year loss in the so-called recovery. No matter what we talk about that's what's on the American people's minds.

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN: And let's add to that.

HALEY BARBOUR: They get it.

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN: You know, most of those small businesses that Haley is referencing are female owned. They're the majority of the new small business starts. That is why women are looking at this and they're saying, look, my household income is down forty-three hundred dollars a year. Twenty-six hundred dollars a year is what I'm seeing as the increase in my health insurance. I am trying to get access to capital to grow this small business. The Obama economy is working against me. We've got to make some changes. Tell me what you're going to do about it.

REINCE PRIEBUS: And, Bob, you-- in your commentary you talked about how Americans were just sort of sick and tired of politics generally. I-- I agree with that. And I think that it's really an indictment on Barack Obama because he promised he was going to carpet the world. He was going to be a transcendent figure. He didn't get it done. And I think of all the things that this election is--

BOB SCHIEFFER: Oh, come now. I mean--

REINCE PRIEBUS: Listen--

BOB SCHIEFFER: --I-- I take your point, but you're not trying to tell me that the reason people are sick of politics is all--

REINCE PRIEBUS: No.

BOB SCHIEFFER: --all the Democrats' fault and the--

REINCE PRIEBUS: No, no, no.

BOB SCHIEFFER: --Republicans have nothing.

REINCE PRIEBUS: No, I'm not saying that. But-- but hear me out. I think Barack Obama's not real anymore to the American people. They bought-- they bought a message in 2008. And I think of all the things that people are starving for in this country are real, authentic people that make a promise and keep a promise. The Barack Obama brand is broken. And-- and-- and that is an indictment on Barack Obama. Now I think there is a lot of work to be done in Washington. I think we do need people of their word to go do what they said they're going to do. But at the top of the ticket is a man who sold us a bill of goods, and delivered on very little and that's going to be his biggest problem.

BOB SCHIEFFER: But isn't this just kind of a-- a-- couldn't you say the same thing? Because what happens is, people come, they make these promises, both sides do it, and then nothing happens. I mean you have a Congress--

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN: Well--

BOB SCHIEFFER: --that has done nothing.

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN: Well-- well, I take-- I'll take issue with that. The House has over thirty jobs bills and about two hundred pieces of legislation waiting for Harry Reid and the Democrat Senate to take it up. So take a little bit of issue with that. The House is what--

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, but the Democrats there have some bills--

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN: But then, look at this, in your commentary you said you wanted to see a leader who could sit down with the other side and get things done.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Mm-Hm.

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN: Look at what Mitt Romney did in Massachusetts. He said as he exactly what he did. Republican governor, he went to a Democratic legislature, and he said for the good of the state, and the people of this state, let's decide how we can get some things done. So if you're looking for somebody who can actually live that out for you, your guy is Mitt Romney.

REINCE PRIEBUS: And that's what a convention is all about, telling the Mitt Romney story about a good, decent man that gave away his father's inheritance and everything he did, he did with-- to success. And I think that both Republican and Democratic parents are wishing for their kids' success and the American dream, and not the glass-half-empty America that Barack Obama is trying to sell this country.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Governor Barbour, yeah, you've been a governor, you've been a longtime lobbyist, you've been involved in politics for a long, long time. If you were just to sit here today and say what is something that the two sides could get together on--and I'd like to hear from you, Congressman Blackburn--just give me some things that they could do if they could just sit down and-- and do it in a rational way.

HALEY BARBOUR: You know, Bob, the answer is just probably a very long list. In divided government, like under Reagan, like under Bill Clinton, when you had a majority of the House--Democrats were under Reagan they did the Reagan economic plan. They did Social Security reform. They did immigration reform. They did the 1986 Tax Reform Bill because you had a President who was willing to lead and work the other side. It's not partisan. Bill Clinton was the same way. Bill Clinton had six years of Republican Congress. He didn't whine and complain and blame everybody else. He went over to the Republican Congress and he did welfare reform and the first balanced budget in a generation because he was willing to lead. That's what the American people-- you talked about it in your commentary. The American people want to know why don't we have a Bill Clinton, why don't we have a Ronald Reagan, that will go to the other side and get things done rather than make everything political, everything somebody else's fault. It can be done because we've seen it done by--

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN: Right. Yeah.

HALEY BARBOUR: --two Presidents.

BOB SCHIEFFER: But this Congress-- and-- and Congressman-- they couldn't even pass a drought relief bill. Here we got the worst drought in-- in-- what, since the dustbowl days of the thirties, Congress took off for five weeks without doing anything to help the farmers.

REPRESENTATIVE MARSHA BLACKBURN: Well, and there, again, the House has the ability to get its work done. The Senate is not getting their job done. And just as Senator Rubio was talking about dealing with the immigration issue, the instruction from the administration.

You know in the House we've had bipartisan support for the repeal of Obamacare, bipartisan support for moving forward with the budget. We have had bipartisan support for getting rid of cap and trade and stopping that. We've had bipartisan support for building the Keystone Pipeline. And what you've got are individuals that do extend the hand and work across the aisle, and make certain that we are doing things for the good of the American people. This President promised--and this is one of the reason I think--that so many voters, especially female voters, have moved away from him. He said he was going to take action on a certain course. But guess what he didn't do that. He didn't bring people together he divided them and he continues to try to divide. And that is not what the American people want.

BOB SCHIEFFER: If you had one message that you would like people to remember from this convention when it's over, they go away Friday, what would you like it to be, Mister Chairman?

REINCE PRIEBUS: I'd say the American people deserve a better future than the one that Barack Obama is trying to sell us.

BOB SCHIEFFER: All right. Well, I want to thank you all.

And, of course, to our viewers out there, we'll be back with our round table of correspondents in just a minute. I do want to add, I do want to add and underline that next week, we're going to let the Democrats have their side of this story.

REINCE PRIEBUS: Oh, darn, Bob, come on.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Sorry, you missed the punch. We'll be back in a minute.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

BOB SCHIEFFER: Who was that guy?

We're back here in Tampa, Florida, with Peggy Noonan, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal; Rich Lowry, who writes for the National Review and TIME Magazine, also a Fox News contributor. And what do you do--I always ask--what do you do in your spare time?

RICH LOWRY (TIME Magazine/Fox News Contributor): I also belong to my local rotary club. You never get that in.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Dan Balz of The Washington Post and our own Norah O'Donnell, and who is now the co-host of CBS THIS MORNING; and our political director John Dickerson. I just want to go down the line. I'm going to start with you, Peggy. What do Republicans need to do here?

PEGGY NOONAN (Wall Street Journal): Uh, in a way they've just settled who their nominee is, they've just settled who their leaders are. Now unveil them in a fresh, new, helpful, and comprehensive way to the American people.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Rich.

RICH LOWRY: Well, in one sense, it shouldn't be hard. I mean Mitt Romney is a guy who succeeded at almost everything he's done except for a Senate race and a primary race for President last time around. So it's easy to make the case. He's a highly capable man, he's a profoundly decent man, a family man, a man of faith. What they need to do is connect all those qualities to his program. Because at its worst, the Romney campaign is just seem to believe that the resume is enough. I believe the choice of Paul Ryan says they know the agenda is important, too. And I expect to see that suffusing the entire week.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Dan.

DAN BALZ (The Washington Post): Bob, I think that it's very important for Governor Romney to make the case about why he can fix the economy. He's talked about the fact that his resume is of a job creator. The Obama campaign has spent the summer sullying that reputation. He has to come back in a-- in a way, as Peggy said, that he can connect with people. But he has to leave here with people thinking he is the person who can turn this economy around.

NORAH O'DONNELL (Co-host, CBS THIS MORNING): I think, quite simply, Mitt Romney has got to change the dynamics of this race. He's got to use this convention and the debates to change everything. Obama still leads nationally in the polls. Obama still leads in all of the key swing states. And our own CBS-New York Times poll we saw that Romney did have some movement after the pick of Paul Ryan. But he's got to be able to convince not just his base that he's been working on but he's got to convince other voters--swing voters, independent voters, also women, young voters, minorities--outreach more and he's got to use this convention to try and connect with people, specifically middle-class voters.

JOHN DICKERSON (CBS News Political Director): I think-- I think that's right, Bob. He's got to-- they've got to warm up Mitt Romney. The Romney campaign knows this is going to be a referendum about the economy and Barack Obama. But that's not enough. Voters need to connect with him in some way. They don't need to love him, just connect enough. And here the sort of the podium is the message. We see a mix of thirteen high-tech screens but they're wrapped in a warm sort of arts and craft style. To some people that's perfect mix of old and new. To others it's a little discordant but high-tech next to these warm, well, that's what's happening with Mitt Romney--kind of a cool stainless steel candidate. Can they wrap him in this warmth so that people feel like it works or are people still going to find out a disconnect?

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, I mean I'm looking at this podium here and it does sort of have the look of sort of a Swedish sauna that's-- I mean those little louver doors and everything.

RICH LOWRY: If the election, Bob-- if the election is about the podium, the Republicans have already won.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Peggy, I must say I am surprised that we come into Florida and into this convention, I thought this was going to be an election about, you know, referendum on Barack Obama. That's what the Republicans told me it was going to be. But we're here and it's sort of become the referendum on Paul Ryan and Medicare of all things.

PEGGY NOONAN: Um, well, that's been going on for the past few weeks. But I think at this convention you're about to hear a lot of talk about simply turning the economy around, economic growth, economic dynamism, economic expansion going back to the old America of exuberant growth. I think that's more the-- more what you're going to be hearing about. I also think to sum up I think what-- what we've all been saying is it is a cliché of politics but true. When you have an incumbent President, somebody running against him, it's a two-part question. One is, do you want to keep or get rid of the incumbent? If you decide get rid of, the second question is do we want to hire this guy? This week is about the reasons you want to hire this guy.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Well, how do you get the focus back on what you wanted on? I mean, they can't help it about the weather, but that's other--

PEGGY NOONAN: Yeah.

BOB SCHIEFFER: --this bizarre congressman down there in Missouri with his, you know, bizarre take on abortion and all of that. I mean you worked for George Bush, you wrote speeches for Ronald Reagan. How do you get it back on talking about what you want to talk about?

PEGGY NOONAN: Oddly enough I think-- look, for the people coming to Tampa right now and for the people who will be watching most avidly the convention for the first few days, they are actually thinking about the election, not--forgive me--some nut out-- some nut who said something nutty and everybody got mad at the nut. I think it's moved on a little bit now. It's about what's happening now but also what's going to happen in November. And I think the one thing that is kind of uniting the Republicans and many of the people watching is their sense that they have not found the Obama presidency to be satisfying or helpful. They want to change it. This is the chance. It's that simple.

BOB SCHIEFFER: You know, Rich--and the rest of you join in--if you look at, you know, every poll says the country's going in the wrong direction. We know all about the economy and all that, I don't need to go through all. And, yet, this race is tick-tight.

RICH LOWRY: Yeah.

PEGGY NOONAN: Yeah.

BOB SCHIEFFER: By any standard, Mitt Romney ought to be way ahead, it seems to me, if you look at all those kind of signs. Why isn't he?

RICH LOWRY: Well, I'm not sure about that. One, people like President Obama. They still find him basically a winsome figure. And the economy, they do cut him some slack because he legitimately inherited a terrible mess, and we're growing--not anywhere the way we should--but we're growing a little bit. So the economy is kind of a tweener. It's not enough to sink him all of its own. And I just think Mitt Romney is in pretty good shape. It's basically a tied race. Maybe he's a-- a point behind. If you average up all the race-- all the polls after this beating he sustained over the last two months. And I think Democrats have succeeded in banging him up but they haven't succeeded in disqualifying him. And he still has big moments ahead of him, that Thursday night speech a big one; the three debates; and he has a fund-raising advantage on top of it. So he's not in bad shape at all.

DAN BALZ: I think there are a couple of answers, Bob. One is, as Rich says, the-- the economy is not so bad that it's going to sink Obama instantly. It's not so good that he's guaranteed reelection. That's the first thing. So he's in that nether zone. I think the second reality is this is a very divided country. People pick sides some time ago in this race there are a very few people who were still undecided, and I they think they're going to stay undecided for a while. So I think this race stays close, perhaps until the first debate or the second debate. Then we'll see what really happens.

NORAH O'DONNELL: And I think we're down to substance now and (INDISTINCT) policy discussions and people are going focus, everybody is getting done with summer vacations. And it's back to school, and getting our kids back to school and people are going to watch TV and they're going to look for the distinction between the two candidates on issues. And there is a burden on Mitt Romney to talk about specifically about how he is going to reduce the deficit and provide tax cuts at the same time. There's a burden on Barack Obama in his own convention to talk about what he is going to do in the second term and whether he's going to be able to work with Republicans any better than he did in the last term, which hasn't worked out so well. So there's a burden on both of them. But I do think there's going to be a specific focus on policy--not just at these conventions as they lay out those, but also the debates will be critical in that regard.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Where do you think it's going? What should we expect from-- from now until election, John?

JOHN DICKERSON: Well, the question is whether that debate about policy will be about what I'm offering or is it just going to be about how bad what the other guy is offering.

NORAH O'DONNELL: Exactly.

JOHN DICKERSON: And as Norah says when people come back and start paying attention the people who are still up for grabs, you know, a lot of people have been having an enjoyable summer and much of what they've seen come out of the campaign has been foolishness, everybody falling all over themselves about various gaffes. When it does get serious, what bet are the candidates going to make about whether people really want to sign up for a very specific agenda, or whether-- and they are both making this bet so far that the other guy, putting obstacles up in front of the other guy is the strategy. They say they're getting specific but what they're just getting specific about is the faults of their opponent. Are they really going to make a bet that they're going to run for something? And the reason they need to make that bet is if they actually get in office or stay in office they might actually have to do something and they may want the country to know what that's going to be.

NORAH O'DONNELL: Mm.

BOB SCHIEFFER: We will have to leave it there. Thank you all very much.

PEGGY NOONAN: Thank you, Bob.

BOB SCHIEFFER: We'll be back in a minute with our FACE THE NATION Flashback.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS)

BOB SCHIEFFER: Conventions aren't what they used to be, but they still give us unforgettable moments, and that is our FACE THE NATION Flashback.

When you get all these politicians together you never know what they'll say. Like in '88, when Ann Richards of Texas laid this one on the Republican nominee--

GOVERNOR ANN RICHARDS: Poor George. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.

BOB SCHIEFFER: His son and future President came to dad's defense.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I find it very refreshing in a way. I really do that he is not so programmed and so mechanical that he's got aides writing every little script line and that there's this-- that there's rigidity about him.

BOB SCHIEFFER: His dad won and the country came to know George W.

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: And I'd like to talk a little about--

BOB SCHIEFFER: The worst speech that year was when Arkansas governor Bill Clinton nominated Michael Dukakis. He droned on for so long that the loudest applause came when he signaled he was almost done.

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: In closing.

(Crowd cheering)

BOB SCHIEFFER: People thought it was the end of Clinton's career but Dukakis lost and four years later Clinton became president. We remember some speeches because the speakers show up where we'd least expect them. Joe Lieberman was Al Gore's Democratic running mate in 2000. Eight years later:

SENATOR JOE LIEBERMAN: What after all is a Democrat like me doing at a Republican convention like this?

(Crowd cheering)

BOB SCHIEFFER: And sometimes we remember a speech, well, just because we never heard anything like it before.

SARAH PALIN: Because you know they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.