Obama: Gingrich, Romney will be at it 'awhile'

We can't help but think President Obama is enjoying the rough-and-tumble of the Republican presidential race.

Asked by Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes about the surge of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Obama replied: "He's somebody who's been around a long time, and is good on TV, is good in debates."

But the president did not dismiss former frontrunner Mitt Romney during the interview that aired last night.

"Mitt Romney has shown himself to be somebody who's good at politics, as well," Obama said of the former Massachusetts governor who also ran in 2008. "He's had a lot of practice at it."

"You know, I think that they (Gingrich and Romney) will be going at it for a while," Obama said (hopefully?).

Obama declined to go into too much detail about the Republican race.

"When the Republican Party has decided who its nominee is going to be, then we'll have plenty of time to worry about it," Obama told 60 Minutes.

As we reported over the weekend, Obama also told the CBS program it doesn't really matter who the Republicans nominate:

The core philosophy that they're expressing is the same.

And the contrast in visions between where I want to take the country and where they say they want to take the country is going to be stark.

And the American people are going to have a good choice and it's going to be a good debate.

 By David Jackson, USA TODAY