After Romney’s speech, a journalist sitting nearby said that it was all very professional. And indeed it was; Romney had a bunch of issues to touch, checked them all, and said goodnight. Very professionally done.

He made the primary subject of his speech the importance of two-parent families. He listed a series of initiatives he would enact if elected, and committed his wife, Ann, to the effort. “Every First Lady champions a cause,” Romney said. “For Nancy Reagan, it was to just say no to drugs. For Barbara and Laura Bush, it has been reading. Ann has worked to help children make good choices like marriage and high school before having babies. If she is First Lady, this will be her mission.”

Romney may have overplayed his hand a bit on the issue of abortion, and it appears he did it off the cuff. The text of his speech as prepared for delivery, and released by his campaign, had him saying, “I will be a pro-life president. I will appoint and fight for justices who follow the law and the Constitution…” But when he delivered the speech, he said, “I will be a pro-life president, just like I’ve been a pro-life governor…” There were a few murmurs in the crowd for that one, given that in 2002 Romney pledged to pro-choice groups in Massachusetts that he would protect abortion rights as governor, and given that, by Romney’s account, he did not change his position until late 2004 during a debate over stem-cell research in Massachusetts. He then pushed things a little farther when he said, “And you don’t have to take my word for it, you can look at my record as governor. On every piece of legislation, I came down on the side of life.” There were a few more murmurs. Abortion is this group’s number-one issue. They know the ins and outs of it. And they know Romney’s record. If they see a conflict between his claims today and his stated positions in 2002, or in 1994, they’ll factor that in when they decide whom to support.