Open Thread: Romney and Obama appear on 60 Minutes

There was quite a contrast in the separate 60 minute interviews for the President and challenger Mitt Romney.

Mr. Romney said he would consider means-testing for Social Security benefits for future retirees, and he put some distance between his plans for reshaping Medicare as a voluntary voucher program and the proposal by his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan, to reduce payments to the health care program by some $700 billion.

“Yeah, he was going to use that money to reduce the budget deficit,” Mr. Romney said of Mr. Ryan. “I’m putting it back into Medicare, and I’m the guy running for president, not him.”

Mr. Obama took a fairly combative tone in his interview, defending the administration’s actions on financial bailouts, health care legislation and efforts to help homeowners and job seekers.

He said he regretted that he had failed in a central promise of his 2008 campaign — to change the tone of Washington.

“I’m the first one to confess the spirit that I brought to Washington that I wanted to see instituted, where we weren’t constantly in a political slugfest but were focused more on problem solving, that, you know, I haven’t fully accomplished that,” Mr. Obama said. “Haven’t even come close in some cases.”

Both men said their workdays ended around 10 p.m., though they described their late-night routines somewhat differently. Mr. Obama said that after his wife and daughters went to sleep, he would spend several hours reading and writing. Sometimes, he said, he would repair to the Truman Balcony and gaze out over the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial.

“And so,” the president said, “those are moments of reflection that, you know, help gird you for the next challenge and the next day.”

Mr. Romney said he would end the day with a conversation with his wife, Ann, and then read and plan the next day.

After that, he said, “I pray. Prayer is a time to connect with the divine, but also time, I’m sure, to concentrate one’s thoughts, to meditate and to imagine what might be.”

“What do you ask for?” the CBS correspondent Scott Pelley inquired.

“That’s between me and God,” Mr. Romney replied with a laugh. “But mostly wisdom and understanding. I seek to understand things I don’t understand.”

You can read the scripts here.