Daily Bell: Thanks for sitting down with us again and answering the tough questions. Please answer as if readers were not aware of your famous magazine, your articles or your frequently quoted opinions.

What happened to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney? Did he run a good race?

Steve Forbes: To define what happened, he didn't define himself and his agenda. When you don't do that or don't do it skillfully enough the other side will do it for you. The campaign made a major mistake by not responding to the Democratic attack ads in the spring and summer, after he secured the GOP nomination. Even though Romney did very well on the first debate, as Ed Rollins said, "He made himself a credible alternative to Obama but not necessarily the better alternative." As Reagan demonstrated in 1980, it's not enough to run against a bad economic record; you have to have a positive alternative, an exciting, forward-looking one. Romney had some good ideas but they almost came across as a footnote rather than something he led off with, and I think ultimately that cost him the election.