VIDEO: Republican Strategist Mike Murphy Speaks with CBS THIS MORNING

Republican strategist Mike Murphy discussed with co-host Norah O'Donnell and CBS News Correspondent Anthony Mason the importance of swing states in the upcoming election as well as Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's stance on an array of key positions live today, Oct. 10, 2012, on CBS THIS MORNING on the CBS Television Network (7:00 AM – 9:00 AM). Check out the video!

Below are excerpts from the interview:

MASON: At this point how critical is Ohio for Romney, given the Republicans have had to win Ohio to take the White House?

MURPHY: The good news for Romney is all the other states he was in trouble with – Florida, Virginia – have gotten closer and better for him, but Ohio is still a problem, and if he can't win Ohio – which I think he can, it's tightening. But if he can't, then he's got to win a couple of states that are harder than Ohio. Maybe Colorado isn't, but Nevada probably is, Iowa and of course Wisconsin.

MASON: You've got an unemployment rate in Ohio that's well below the national average, and that's going to work against him to some degree, yes? 

MURPHY: He can't run the simple bad economy message here. It has to be a bit more, but that's what we saw at the debate, he had a path forward. He had enthusiasm, and the thing about these margins to remember, one, the polls are going to bounce like crazy, but if you're four points behind in a state, you've only got to exchange 2% of the people's point of view to be tied.

O'DONNELL: Let's talk about the Big Bird effect. I mean it's that sort of shiny object that they lurched onto. Is it a distraction from Obama's message which was, after the debate, which is that Mitt Romney was dishonest in the debate, that he did not tell the truth about his tax plan, that he tried to get away from some of the positions he's taken in the past.

MURPHY: Yeah, I'm expecting Kermit to come out and attack Obama today to balance things out. Here's what I think is happening, which is the Obama team, which has run a competent technical campaign, got a little rattled by this debate and so they are trying to find their groove to take the race back. So, on one hand they want to talk flip-flops, on the other hand extremism. For some reason they seem obsessed with Big Bird. They've got to straighten out and come up with one theme here. We have to wait to see what it is.

O'DONNELL: Let me ask you about something Mitt Romney said yesterday. He was with the Des Moines Register, of course, in Iowa, and he was talking about abortion rights. He said quote, "There's no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would be part of my agenda." Then, several hours later, his spokesperson said, "Gov. Romney would of course support legislation aimed at providing greater protections for life." What's with the Mitt Romney positions going back and forth on his issues? He's not on the same page as his campaign.

MURPHY: Hopefully the campaign will get on-page with him, because I think he's doing great. This reminds me back when he was governor-

O'DONNELL: He said during the Republican primary debates that he would work to overturn Roe v. Wade and he would defund Planned Parenthood. Now he said there's no legislation on abortion rights. Which one is it? 

MURPHY: He's pro-life, no doubt about it. I'm sure he would support pro-life legislation, but when he was governor and he ran as a pro-lifer, people kind of forget this. I mean, we did a poll on it. People knew he was pro-life. But what he said to the people in Massachusetts is, "Look, my focus is going to be the economy. I'm not going to be changing those laws."

Click here to watch the video.

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