Mitt Romney sits for an interview, and not just on Fox News

Romney: "The president's frankly made it harder for our economy to reboot. I'd strengthen the basis of America's economic might…. One is to take advantage of our energy resources."

Schieffer: "But I mean would that work right now?… Should we become involved? What do we do?"

Romney: "Well, we're not going to send checks to Europe. We're not going to bail out the European banks. We're going to be poised here to support our economy, but I'm very much in favor of the fundamental things one does to strengthen the economic footings of a nation. And as to what's going to happen in Europe and what kind of impact that will have here, time will tell. But our banks are on a much stronger basis than they were at the time of the last economic crisis."

Meanwhile, while Romney was sitting down with CBS, White House senior adviser David Plouffe darted from one TV talk show to another Sunday – four appearances in all – like some black-caped dramatic chorus, zinging Romney (and Republicans generally) for the “huge tax cuts for the wealthy, more war, more debt” he said they’d impose if Romney wrested the White House from Barack Obama.

On ABC's "This Week," host George Stephanopoulos pushed back on Mr. Plouffe’s Republicans-as-warmongers line.

“More war?” Stephanopoulos asked. “Where are the Republicans calling for more war?”

“Well, listen, the point is, George, our opponent and many in Congress criticized our decision to end the Iraq war,” Plouffe wriggled. “I think Governor Romney called it a tragic mistake, oppose a timeline in Afghanistan. So – and, by the way, you know, that also has fiscal and economic consequences, because we have to focus on rebuilding this country. And that's what the president wants to do, is take half the money from ending the wars and focus on rebuilding this country.”

Plouffe also had to defend Obama’s surprise announcement halting the deportation of as many as 800,000 young illegal immigrants, providing them temporary work permits under certain conditions.

“This simply gives Homeland Security and our law enforcement officials the opportunity to enforce the law with some discretion and allows these young people, who came here many times early in their life, who want to serve in our military and work in our businesses and study in our colleges, the ability to apply for a two-year period for work authorization,” Plouffe said.

But he also acknowledged Romney’s point that a permanent fix is needed. And you could hear guffaws echoing around Washington when, with a straight face, he told CNN’s Candy Crowley, "This is not a political move."

This report includes material from The Associated Press.

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