WASHINGTON -- "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer sat down with two Republican presidential candidates last Sunday, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, and he has interviewed Rick Santorum a few times during the primary race.
But he's still waiting for Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney.
"We try every week," Schieffer told The Huffington Post Monday night, during a party rolling out a new partnership between CBS and Google to hold video chat "hangouts" on Google+. "I call at least two or three times a week, and they keep saying maybe, maybe, maybe next week. But they never do."
So far this cycle, the former Massachusetts governor has bucked tradition by skipping all the Sunday morning public affairs shows except "Fox News Sunday." While he has appeared several times recently on Fox News, the campaign has generally limited Romney's national media appearances more than it did during the 2008 race.
Although Romney didn't stop by last Sunday -- which happened to be Schieffer's first hour-long episode -- a younger version of the candidate did appear on the program. Schieffer played a clip of an interview he did with Romney during the 1994 Senate race against the the late Ted Kennedy.
"He sounded just like he sounds today," Schieffer said. "'We got to put a businessman' and all that. It was good. It was pretty fun."
Schieffer said it's his job to cover the campaigns, not try to run them. But he again extended the invitation. "The door is open," Schieffer said. "We'll put him on whenever he's ready to do it. We're ready to have him."
And Schieffer's not the only one looking to sit down with Romney.
"Meet the Press" host David Gregory noted a few weeks ago on air that Romney has had "a longstanding invitation" to appear on the show. "We certainly hope he will change his mind and come on for an interview in the course of the primary process," Gregory said.
Both hosts may eventually get their wish, according to top adviser Eric Fehrnstrom."
When asked if Romney will appear on the non-Fox Sunday shows, Fehrnstrom told The Huffington Post that "we hope to do them all over the course of the campaign."