'This Week' Transcript: David Axelrod and Reince Priebus

NEW YORK, SEPT. 23, 2012— -- STEPHANOPOULOS: Hello again. With just over six weeks to go, it is safe to say that Mitt Romney can't afford another one like his last. From the inside account of political dysfunction that broke Sunday night to the electrical malfunction that grounded Ann Romney's plane on Friday, nothing seemed to go right.

And campaigning Saturday in Florida, running mate Paul Ryan fielded a question about griping from Republican insiders.

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RYAN: There will always be critics. There are always people who have other ideas on how best to achieve things. But guess what? I have rarely seen a moment where the man and the moment have met so well.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: On a rare trip to Ryan's home state of Wisconsin, President Obama pounded away at Romney's private thoughts on that 47 percent.

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OBAMA: We can't get very far if we're just writing off half the country as a bunch of victims or -- or presume that somehow they want to be dependent on government or don't want to take responsibility for their own lives.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: And with that, let's get right to our headliners, David Axelrod from the Obama campaign and the chair of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus.

And, Chairman Priebus, let me begin with you. Good morning. Thanks for coming to us from Wisconsin.

PRIEBUS: Hey, good morning, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: President Obama -- you saw him there yesterday. Voters are going to be hearing about that leaked video every single day.

PRIEBUS: Well, I mean, listen, I think Governor Romney's been pretty clear, it probably wasn't the best-said, you know, moment in the campaign and probably not the best week in the campaign, but I will say that I think we can look back at last week as a campaign in a couple months and say, this was the defining week in both campaigns, where I think both campaigns are crystallizing around a central theme, which is going to be, what kind of future do we want for our kids and grandkids?

What type of America do we want for this country? Do we want the cradle-to-grave, life of Julia, Obamacare, we'll take care of you from preschool to death America? Or do we want sort of a return to, you know, opportunity, liberty, freedom, you know, the type of America where, when I grew up here in Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin, that, you know, my dad would point to a house as a union electrician, a nice house, and say, "You know what, guy? If you go to school and you work hard, you're going to live in that house."

STEPHANOPOULOS: But, Mr. Chairman, let me -- let me interrupt you right there. You're saying you like the choice that was presented to voters last week?