Last week, Rick Santorum’s three-state sweep stunned Mitt Romney, who only days before had prevailed in Florida and Nevada. But after a strong weekend — he won the Conservative Political Action Conference’s straw poll and Maine’s caucuses — an upbeat Romney tells National Review Online that he is confident about his chances in the GOP presidential primary.

“I hope to become our nominee, but I am not clairvoyant,” Romney says. “At this stage, it’s hard to know precisely how the political landscape will change over the coming weeks and months.” But as the Super Tuesday vote on March 6 draws near, Romney feels “very good” about his prospects. He predicts that his organization and his “clear message” will enable him “to go the distance.”

Romney says his CPAC speech was an important moment — a reintroduction to Republicans unfamiliar with his endeavors in deep-blue Massachusetts. He spent hours writing and rewriting the text, polishing lines and passages, intent on underscoring his conservatism and his gubernatorial achievements. “I understand that Senator Santorum is speaking a lot about that record, and I thought that I better clear it up,” he chuckles. “I wanted to make sure that people remember the real Mitt Romney, not the one being fabricated by my opponents.

“The perception is quite different than the reality,” he continues. “I want people to remember that I was on the front lines on conservative social issues, on conservative fiscal issues, and standing up for conservative foreign-policy values. I wanted to reacquaint people with what they remember from four years ago.”

Indeed, after weeks of having Santorum and Newt Gingrich blasting his record, the former governor says it was necessary to push back — not with barbs, but with details.

“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 think people want to know the candidates on a personal basis,” Romney says. At CPAC, he adds, “I thought it was valuable to once again describe the background of my home. There was a real interest in getting to know our family a little better.” Romney hopes such stories will illustrate how his conservatism has been shaped by his experiences.

Romney may not be a lifelong right-wing warrior, but he wants grassroots activists to recognize that he is a committed ally on the issues. Beacon Hill anecdotes are integral to that strategy. He acknowledges, however, the need to better connect with conservatives, and touched upon this challenge at CPAC. “As conservatives, we are united by a set of core commitments,” he said. “But not everyone has taken the same path to get here. There are college students at this conference who are reading Burke and Hayek. When I was your age, you could have told me they were infielders for the Detroit Tigers.”

As laughter rippled through the audience, Romney plowed forward. “Some of you work in think tanks or follow the writings of prominent leaders,” he said. “Some of you have worked in government or labored on the front lines of conservative causes. I salute you all. My path to conservatism came from my family, my faith, and my life’s work.”

“If you take a look at my speech at CPAC, you’ll see the themes I’d like [conservatives] to see,” Romney says. “I want them to know that I want to dramatically and fundamentally change the course of America and return us to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.” Moving ahead, he will continue to argue that only a Beltway outsider, a proven governor, can convincingly do that.

“I think that people who live their life in Washington become infected with a conviction that Washington is the source of America’s economic, military, and cultural greatness,” Romney says. “They’re wrong. Washington can encourage and protect free people and free enterprise, but it was designed to be the umpire, not the player. I want to return America to the free people and free enterprise that have propelled our prosperity.”

As he competes for the nomination with a former House speaker, a former senator, and a Texas congressman, Romney says that balancing his Massachusetts record with a broader anti-Washington appeal will be crucial. He wants to go deeper into his full gubernatorial record, to be sure, but he also wants to distinguish himself from the field of longtime Washington politicos.

“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.”

Romney believes that such a pitch can resonate, and that his defeats in Missouri, Colorado, and Minnesota were stumbles, not disasters. “Where we have campaigned aggressively, in Florida and Nevada, we were successful,” he says. “We didn’t pay as much attention to the caucus states, and that showed.” But after twin victories over the weekend, “We’re looking forward to Arizona and Michigan,” he says. “And we hope to win.”

— Robert Costa is a political reporter for National Review.