• LAMB: : As you sit in Massachusetts and look at this country and contemplate running for president, what are the big issues?

• ROMNEY: Well, there are a number. There are four major challenges we face, some are opportunities. As we surmount our challenges, of course, we become stronger and therefore a better nation.

One, of course, is the extraordinary attack that we are under from the jihadists. I think Americans under-appreciate, underestimate just how severe that attack is and how long it will be in coming, and how long and broad our effort is going to have to be to beat it back and to help move the world of Islam into modernity and to have more of these extreme Muslims adopt the policies of the great majority of Muslims, a very peace-loving and God-loving people.

Secondly, we have an extraordinary fiscal challenge. We are spending too much money. We are borrowing too much money. And the entitlements and the growth of the Baby Boomer population means this is going to get worse, not better. We are going to have to do something about that.

Third challenge we face is the rise of Asia. That’s good news, of course, because an economy that has been a backwater economy for generations, and people living in poverty are now going to come forward, be able to buy our products and services.

But it’s also a challenge. They believe in education, hard work. They are mercantile, I’m talking about India, China, all parts of Asia. We are now going to be competing with a very different, very large and aggressive competitor. We have got to raise our game dramatically if we are not going to become the France of the 21st Century; starting as a superpower by not ending up as such.

And then finally I think we are under a challenge culturally. By that I mean that there are certain values that have formed the basis of the American culture that I think in important ways lead to our success as a nation. And those are under attack.

Do we believe in hard work or do we not? Do we believe in opportunity? Do we believe in big government or small government? I believe in small government.

Do we respect human life? Do we think that family is the foundation of our society? These are challenges that are being brought forward today in our society, all of those areas I think are critical, vital.

I’m proud that we have a president that is fighting for the appropriate values. He is fighting to overcome the jihadists. He has launched a new initiative with regards to Americans’ ability to compete globally. And I think that is an effort that is of utmost importance.