'This Week' Transcript: Obama Senior Adviser David Plouffe

NEW YORK, September 2, 2012— -- STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning and welcome to This Week.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next president of the United States of America!

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STEPHANOPOULOS: Mitt's Moment.

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MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know there's something wrong with the kind of job he did as president, when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: The challenger makes his case.

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PAUL RYAN, REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What is missing is leadership in the White House!

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: Mr. President, real leaders don't follow polls, real leaders change polls.

ANN ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S WIFE: This man will lift up America.

ROMNEY: Now is the moment when we can stand up and say, I'm an American. I make my destiny. We deserve better.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: Today, we debate the big convention questions. On the biggest stage of his life, did Mitt Romney seize the chance to connect with voters? Will he see a convention bounce? Or, did Isaac and Eastwood...

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CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR/DIRECTOR: I'm not going to shut up.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: Upstage his message?

And as the focus shifts from Tampa to Charlotte, can President Obama persuade skeptical voters he deserves a second chance? We'll ask the president's top political adviser, architect of his 2008 victory David Plouffe.

Plus, debate and analysis on our powerhouse roundtable with George Will, Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, Bill Burton and Mitt Romney's lieutenant governor Kerry Healey.

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News, This Week with George Stephanopoulos. It's your voice, our vote. Reporting from ABC News election headquarters George Stephanopoulos.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Our friend George Will calls conventions the seventh inning stretch of presidential campaigns. So, halfway through, where do we stand?

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ROMNEY: What a welcome, Cincinnati! Thank you so much.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: The race is still pretty much a tie. Early polls show only a slight bounce for Mitt Romney so far. But his crowds in Ohio and Florida yesterday, were huge. And the Republican nominee tried to reach beyond his base by admitting his party's mistakes.

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ROMNEY: We're going to finally have to do something that Republicans have spoken about for a long time and for a while, we didn't do it. When we had the lead, we let people down. We need to make sure we don't let them down this time. I will cut the deficit and get us on track to a balanced budget.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: President Obama was on offense, in another battleground, Iowa. His take on the Republican convention, he called it a tired TV rerun in black and white.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Governor Romney had his chance to let you in on his secret sauce, he didn't offer you a single, new idea. It was just a retread of the same old policies that have been sticking it to the middle class for years.

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STEPHANOPOULOS: And as the president makes it way to North Carolina for the start of the Democratic convention on Tuesday, we are joined by his top White House strategist David Plouffe.

Good morning, Mr. Plouffe.

PLOUFFE: Good morning, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Thanks for joining us today.