Romney turns the 'Party of No' on its head.

Yesterday's reception of Mitt Romney at CPAC was pretty impressive.

Clearly, he's worked hard to develop a solid following among the activist base.

But, I'm still not a fan.

He's a retread. He fails to connect with primary voters(far different than Party activists). He has a record of flip flopping on vital issues. And then there is that whole Romneycare business.

That doesn't mean I wouldn't support him if he were the nominee, but it would be with about the same enthusiasm I had for John McCain.

Meh.

With all that said, Romney's speech included a theme that I hope Republicans take up across the nation in response to Democrats labeling the GOP as the Party of No.

And he turned the "Party of No" argument back on Dems, asking why they say "no" to things like a balanced budget, entitlement reform, tax cuts and prosecuting Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a military tribunal.

"We conservatives don't have a corner on saying 'No,'" Romney said. "We're just the ones who say it when that's the right thing to do."

On its face, it's a very simple retort, but not one we've really heard yet from Republicans. But it's effective because it refocuses the Dem talking point back on them - the Party in power.

My compliments to his well-paid staff who came up with it.