Earlier today, I had an opportunity to speak with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney about the campaign and the economy, as well as Romney’s official endorsement of Connie Mack in the Republican primary for the US Senate race in Florida.  Governor Romney is traveling in Florida today, and while he and Mack have often appeared together, Romney’s official endorsement came today.  I got the first opportunity to ask him about it, and Romney cited Mack’s fiscal conservatism and leadership in the Republican Party as the reasons why he makes the best candidate to go toe to toe with incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson for the Senate seat in November.

We also talked quite a bit about the economy and spending, the two big themes for Romney this week on the campaign trail, but the talk turned more to debt.  We spoke about the unfolding crisis in Europe, especially Greece, which Romney said was a warning signal to America and its political leadership.  Romney is “very concerned” about Europe, and it underscores the need for a balanced budget, which he pledged to pursue as President.

Romney also scolded the Obama campaign for its attacks on his term at Bain Capital, especially when Obama showed up that very night to a fundraising event hosted by Tony James of Blackstone, another private-equity firm.  Romney tells me that Bain and Blackstone occasionally invested in tandem, and that he has respect for their work, because it’s the same work he did at Bain.  I asked about the JP Morgan loss, and the impact of Dodd-Frank, which Romney agrees did nothing to end the Too Big To Fail problem. Be sure to watch it all.