Bob Schieffer Responds To Criticism Of Debate Moderating

Bob Schieffer sounded off on Monday night's debate and responded to criticism that he allowed the debate to stray from foreign policy.

President Obama and Mitt Romney made a strong push on the economy and other domestic issues during the fourth and final presidential debate, which was supposed to center on foreign policy. Schieffer managed to shift the focus back to international issues, though he was initially criticized for not intervening for several minutes.

On Tuesday's "CBS This Morning," Schieffer told Charlie Rose that he was slightly "surprised" that both candidates went off on domestic issues. "I kind of let them go on that," he said. "They got into education at one point and they went on about that for a while... When we let that run for a while, I tried to get them back on more specific foreign policy questions."

Schieffer also explained his reasoning for allowing them to get off-topic, adding, "But I found that quite interesting and to me, Charlie, indicative of what they think their campaign ought to be be about. This is their campaign and I thought people ought to have an opportunity to see what they thought it should be about."