February 12, 2008 - 1:00am
By Ben Birnbaum
WASHINGTON — I wrote in my last column that Mitt Romney had steadily lost my respect over the past year. On Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he addressed me and thousands of other attendees, he earned some of it back.
I must have been the only schmuck in the room without a Romney sign or a big red foam baseball “Mitt.” But I looked forward to hearing my former governor speak publicly following his disappointing Super Tuesday. After a glowing introduction by talk-radio diva Laura Ingraham, Romney took the stage to a standing ovation. He launched into what seemed like any other stump speech, tackling every issue from the economy and energy to terrorism and gay marriage.
Fifteen minutes in, however, the talk took a noticeable turn.
