Image credit: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

ABC News conducted a short interview with Mitt Romney today in Denver, Colorado. She asked him about his criticism of the President Obama on foreign policy, Romney's own attempts to reset his campaign, and his use of his running mate.

(Note: The questions below are roughly transcribed and will be updated, but Romney's responses are verbatim. Stay tuned here for video of the interview.)

ABC: President Obama last night on 60 minutes the president referred to the situation in middle east as one of those bumps in the road the country will go through…he will also not have time to meet with some of those leaders while in NY - but will be on the view…how do you square with that?

Mitt Romney: Well I think the president's comments on 60 minutes last night were quite revealing. His indication that developments in the middle east represent bumps in the road is a very different view than i Have. The president, uh, I can't imagine saying something like the assassination of ambassadors is a bump in the road, when you look at the entire context, The assassination, the Muslim brotherhood president being elected in Egypt, 20,000 people killed in Syria, Iran close to becoming a nuclear nation these are far from being bumps in the road. They represent events that are spinning out of the kind of influence we'd like to have. We're at the mercy events rather than shaping the events in the Middle East. and the president doesn't have time to actually spend time with leaders of these nations particularly Bibi Netanyahu, I find that very troubling. And a suggestion that the course America is on is not the right course in the middle east. And of course also on 60 Minutes he laid out his economic agenda saying things are going just fine. Tell that to the 23 million people who are struggling to find a good job or to the people who have no job or having a hard time making ends meet. This is a tough time for the country and the status quo is not going to cut it.

ABC News: Looking forward to this coming week, many would say that the last week was a rough week for you. There were those videos from that fundraiser, you released your tax returns, do you worry that adds to the perception that has been around your whole campaign that maybe you have a harder time relating to the average American and what do you do to change that with just a few weeks left before the election?

Mitt Romney: You know I think this campaign and this election will come down to what direction the American people want to see our country take. It's a choice. Do they believe that the path that the president has put us on is what they want to see over the next four years, do they want four more years like the last four years I think the answer would be no. I think as they understand how I will get America's economy working again with more good jobs and rising take home pay I will get the support of the American people to become elected. My job is to present in as clear a manner as I can my view about how to get this economy going and to contrast it with the view of the president who is a status quo, economic model president.

ABC News: Your campaign's been talking about this reset going into the last couple of weeks. what are we going to see that's different that we haven't seen? What is this reset to you?

Mitt Romney: Well, I'm going to be speaking about the same topics I have in the past, but I'm going to make sure that people understand that this is a different direction for the nation and that if they want the status quo. They can re-elect the person who has been leading us over the last four years. If they instead want to see this country go on a path that creates jobs and rising incomes, then they're going to have to vote for real and positive change, and that's what I represent.

ABC: What would you say to critics who say that you might not be using your running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan, as effectively as you could? What do you think he brings to your campaign, and what do you say to those criticisms that you're muzzling him and you're not putting him out there enough?

Mitt Romney: Well, Congressman Ryan and I are both working very hard. We, of course, recognize that part of a campaign is to have the funds to run advertising. Our president has done an unusual thing. President Obama is the first post-Watergate candidate to say he's not going to live by the federal spending rules. So he's raising unlimited amounts of money. To be competitive, we have to raise money so we can be on the air just like he is. And we also are very anxious to get out and speak with as many people as we can. Both Paul and I, we hit the road pretty darn hard.