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Romney finds safety in CBS and Schieffer

Mitt Romney rarely ventures into the network television interview. When he does, he chooses the safest option on the table: Bob Schieffer.

For the second time this cycle, Romney has given an exclusive, in-person interview to the CBS anchor and "Face The Nation" host, and once again Schieffer has rewarded Romney -- and in this case, his running mate Paul Ryan -- with softball questions and no follow-ups.

Tonight's 60 Minutes interview was Romney and Ryan's very first joint television interview -- a landmark moment for any television personality. And yet Schieffer went easy. For one, he never asked either Romney or Ryan how the Ryan budget would impact American citizens. Though he asked Ryan how many years of tax returns he had given to Romney during the vetting process, he didn't press Ryan on the obvious discrepancy of providing "several" years of tax returns to Romney and only "two" to the American people. At one point, Schieffer told Ryan he was "going to put you on the spot" (an unnecessary warning), then simply asked, "Did you think he's been too defensive about Bain Capital?"

Such omissions epitomized an interview in which the guests were allowed to answer simple questions without fear of the interjection that would likely have been provided by a David Gregory (of NBC) or George Stephanopoulos (of ABC). Indeed, in their own interviews with the Republican candidate, both Bret Baier and Chris Wallace of Fox News played harder ball than this.

Asked why the campaign chose to give the exclusive to Schieffer and not another network, Romney communications director Gail Gitcho told POLITICO, "So that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan could share their vision for more jobs and higher take home pay. They had the chance to do that tonight and talk about how President Obama just hasn’t lived up to his promises."

The implication is that other anchors would not let Romney and Ryan use the media appearance as so much free air time. (A spokesperson for CBS and 60 Minutes did not respond to a request for comment regarding tonight's interview.)

The Romney campaign is not alone. The White House has also used Schieffer as a safe outlet for interviews with Vice President Joe Biden and former White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley. It should also be noted that Romney has granted interviews to other networks, first when he came under fire in the debate over his true tenure at Bain Capital, and again during his overseas tour of London, Israel, and Poland.

But when it comes to granting one network with a sit-down interview, Schieffer has proven the favored choice, and tonight's 60 Minutes interview -- which lasted for just a single segment of the program -- may tell you why.

UPDATE (9:07 p.m.): A colleague of mine wisely reminds me that the Romney campaign cancelled this weekend's interview with PBS Newshour's Gwen Ifill, and did Schieffer instead.