Behind Mitt Romney's bland smile, there is a steely drive and a hint of bitterness. Talking to NEWSWEEK's Howard Fineman in Florida last week, Romney complained that his GOP rivals were fighting dirty—even as he launched waves of "comparative" attack ads against John McCain. Dogged and disciplined, Romney has worked his way to the front of the pack. Now he seems to have settled on his pitch: he'll bring an investor's cold-eyed discipline to a beleaguered American economy and the "broken" city of Washington. Excerpts:

Fineman: What do you say to people who think you will say anything or be anything to get elected?
Romney: Well, first of all, let me tell you where that comes from. It comes from one of the opposition campaigns, before we even got going. They did a terrific job of salting the water with that perspective. I prefer not to mention which one, but you can probably figure it out. [It was Sen. Sam Brownback, an ardent pro-life conservative who has since endorsed McCain.] … One place of significance I did change—and I'll acknowledge that—was with regard to abortion. I was effectively pro-choice.

What can you do about that image?
I'm not a political consultant. I can't describe how you rectify the perception that people have obtained other than by letting them do what I tell people to do who ask the question: look at my record … If you want to know where I stand on gay marriage, guns and abortion, on taxation, on balancing budgets, you can look at my record as governor.

But much of your sales pitch is based on your decades in the private sector. So you are asking people to judge you on your whole adult life.
If people are looking for a candidate who, over 15 years of experience, never makes any mistakes, then I'm not that person … I would far rather have a guy who acknowledges his mistakes, and says he was wrong, than someone who consistently stands by something that was wrong and remains wrong.

And who would that be?
I'm not going to be talking, at this stage, about other folks, but there are some folks who tend to be known as being so stubborn that they won't admit when they are wrong.

John McCain said that running against you is like wrestling with a pig. You both get dirty but the pig still likes it. Why do the other candidates dislike you so much?
What Peter says to Paul tells you more about Peter than it does about Paul. I'm not going to Washington to try and make friends with politicians.