A few days ago, Mitt Romney unveiled a new TV ad in New Hampshire in which he tried something counter-intuitive: he took his own party to task for abandoning its principles. "If we're going to change Washington, Republicans have to put our own house in order," Romney says in the ad, ticking off a list of transgressions. "When Republicans act like Democrats, America loses. It's time for Republicans to start acting like Republicans. It's time for a change, and change begins with us."

It appears to be part of a concerted strategy that positions Romney as the GOP candidate of change. It's a bit of a challenge -- Romney can't bash the conservative direction of his party, because his bona fides are far from solid. He can't bash Bush/Cheney, because the die-hard 28 percenters are a key primary constituency. And he can't run as Bush's heir apparent, because the vast majority of the nation is desperate for something different.

So, he's trying to thread the needle -- the GOP is great, according to Romney's new pitch, but it's gotten off track.

Courting the party faithful Saturday at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, Mitt Romney promised to return a wayward GOP to its core principles while rival John McCain portrayed himself as the most qualified to take charge of the country amid dangerous times.

"Change must begin with us," Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, told activists as he challenged the party to "put our own house in order." [...]

On Saturday, Romney argued that Republicans share the blame with Democrats for the nation's woes. He bemoaned excessive spending, insecure borders and ethical lapses. "When Republicans act like Democrats, America loses," he said.

Even as he sought to distance himself from the president, Romney gave Bush credit for keeping the United States safe and in "restoring personal integrity and dignity to the White House." But otherwise Romney talked of problems with the government, saying, for example, that the Hurricane Katrina cleanup "didn't look like Republicans were in charge."

That's not necessarily a bad pitch. Romney is basically saying he'll be a more competent, fiscally responsible version of Bush. But the pitch only works if Republicans recognize the need for change.

Jonathan Martin, reporting from Mackinac Island, suggested the audience wasn't exactly quick to embrace the tough-love message.

[W]hen Romney launched into his litany of how the GOP should act going forward by saying, again with enthusiasm in his voice, that "it's time for change in Washington and change begins with us," there was an awkward moment when one person began to clap but nobody else in the crowd joined.

Note to the GOP: the first step on the road to recovery is admitting you have a problem.