Romney's next moves

“It would be nice if races were focused on people’s vision for the future,” Romney says. “But I happen to believe that the contrasts that are being spoken of today will be spoken of in a much louder voice by the Obama team. So, in some respects, it’s a good thing to get them out there and cleared up.” A rigorous primary, he says, can be healthy.

In the coming days, Romney plans to emphasize his retooled message, building upon his CPAC argument. “You go through the list,” he says as he discusses how he’ll frame his Bay State accomplishments. Fiscal issues, it seems, will form the heart of his stump speech. “We cut taxes 19 times. We balanced the budget.” But he will also tout his administration’s efforts to curb illegal immigration and his leadership on traditional marriage, abortion, and contraception.

Romney will also get a little more personal in his public remarks, talking about his family and his background, from his immigrant grandfather to his father, George Romney, who rose from being a Mormon outcast in Mexico to become Michigan’s governor…

“I can tell you this: I hope to go Washington, to change Washington, but when that job is done, I’ll return home,” Romney says. “Living in Washington isn’t my life’s ambition.”