His speech, as you can see, was a thorough critique of Obama’s “failure” so far. He returned as an old friend who knows he’s still looked upon skeptically. His pitch was: You and I are serious — about American exceptionalism; about national security; and about helping our economy, not hurting it.

In talking about family, he focused on being Mr. Fix-It on education, on state-level health-care reform, not marriage or life. Probably just as well for him.

He ended with a rally cry to fight for American greatness that doubled as a book plug.

The Mitt Romney pounding on the podium at CPAC today is a Romney we’ve never really seen. It seemed to work well here.

UPDATE: Mitt says to NRO, “I support John McCain 100 percent and will be doing everything I can to support him.”