Romney riffs on Obama, recession, the campaign trail and more

Mitt Romney didn't mince any words on the controversies of the day, and actually told a joke or two, during a chance today to address a key constituency for Republican presidential hopefuls -- FOX News viewers.

In a wide-ranging interview with Neil Cavuto that will air today and Thursday, Romney described as "juvenile" a short-lived website that attacked rival Fred Thompson by calling him a list of unflattering nicknames and questioning his personal life. "That sort of stuff doesn't have a place in politics," Romney said.

The Thompson campaign went ballistic and accused Romney of "gutter politics" and demanded an apology. The Romney campaign disavowed the website, which was created by an associate of its top consultant in South Carolina. "I've instructed that consultant not to let him work in our campaign," Romney said.

Romney also charged that Democrat Barack Obama has "disqualified" himself as a serious presidential candidate "in the minds of virtually everybody who's serious about this country" by calling today for a complete US withdrawal from Iraq by the end of next year and by making controversial remarks about unilaterally acting in Pakistan.

"This is a man who by virtue of politics and perhaps panic has suggested a course in Iraq that would have led to Al Qaeda having a new safe haven," Romney said, according to a transcript provided by FOX News Channel.

In the interview, the former Massachusetts governor also suggested that he might be best equipped, because of his experience turning around companies at Bain Capital, to be president if the economy went into a tailspin .

"You know, I'm sure that if there were a recession, people would be looking for a person who understands how the economy works, who understands how you create jobs, who understands how we could be more competitive with China and India," he said. "And a guy who's spent his life in the private sector is going to know that a lot better than people who've been in politics all their life."

At the end of the interview, Cavuto asked, "Finally, on just a personal level, governor, a lot of people on the campaign trail have remarked at your energy and how you've been able to push through pretty long days in what is a campaign that just seems to get longer and longer every four years. Anything you're doing just to sort of keep yourself in check?"

Romney replied, "You know, the best thing I could do is see Ann from time to time." "Ann," he said as he was interrupted by laughter, "is my source of stability."

Romney added, "At the end of the day, I find it actually hard to go to sleep if I've met with a lot of people. I get energy from the crowds I meet. I find myself having to read for an hour or so before I can fall asleep. And thanks to the Gideons, I've got good material."

Said Cavuto: "I would go for bakery products, governor, but that's just me."