Reading the “Late Edition” transcript, Romney seems to be shifting into high-gear in terms of his message. He firmly rebutted McCain’s charge on the surge, hit him for being in Washington for 25 years, and pounded away on the economic issue:

BLITZER: What is the biggest difference between you and John McCain when it comes to the economy? A lot of fear, right now, of recession, people are hurting. What is the biggest difference between your strategy and his?
ROMNEY: Well, the list is very long. The last time we had a recession in the Bush years, President Bush recognized the best thing you can do is lower taxes and put forward a tax bill. And John McCain was one of only two Republicans to vote against it, and said he would go back and vote against it again if he could. He does not understand the first lesson of Reaganomics, which is, you cut taxes to grow the economy. And then secondly, right now, one of the things I find extraordinary is he pushes this bill known as McCain-Lieberman. It is a — effectively a tax on all energy in this country. He would raise gasoline prices by about 50 cents a gallon, and that is according to the Energy Information Agency. He would raise electric rates by some 20 percent, put a huge burden on us. And it basically would slow down our economy without helping the environment at all, because major users of energy would take their production to countries like China that wouldn’t sign the deal. It is basically saying, the cost of global warming would all be borne by American rate-payers and consumers. He just doesn’t understand how the economy works…