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On Feb. 7, 2008, Mitt Romney was in a very different position.

He had competed hard with Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) and captured Nevada, just like he did this year, but came up short in Florida and New Hampshire, both states he won in 2012. He had poured gobs of his own money into the campaign en route to winning 11 states including his native Michigan and the state where he was governor, Massachusetts, but his prospects for capturing the nomination looked dim.

And so on the stage of the Conservative Political Action Conference, one of the nation鈥檚 premiere gatherings of top right-leaning talent, he ended his campaign for the presidency.

That speech, which you can read in its entirety , gives a window into where the country - and the GOP - stood heading into the last presidential election. Here are five moments from Romney鈥檚 2008 speech that are worthy of reappraisal today.

5. 鈥淚鈥檓 convinced that unless America changes course, we could become the France of the 21st century. Still a great nation, but not the leader of the world, not the superpower. And to me that鈥檚 unthinkable.鈥�

The more some things change (as you will see below), the starker the relief in which the things that stay the same appear. Romney鈥檚 criticism that President Obama is attempting to turn American into a European-style social welfare state is still a key attack line on the stump and in his prepared speeches today.

4. 鈥淓leven states have given me their nod, compared to [McCain鈥檚] 13. Thank you to those 11. Of course, because size does matter, he鈥檚 doing quite a bit better with the number of delegates he鈥檚 got.鈥�

That may be the only joke Mitt Romney has landed in four years.

3. Taking a stand on government spending?

Our economy is also burdened by the inexorable ramping up of government spending.

And let鈥檚 be careful: Let鈥檚 not just focus on the pork alone, even though it is indeed irritating and shameful. Look also at the entitlements. They make up 60 percent of federal spending today. And by the end of the next president鈥檚 second term they will total 70 percent.

听Any conservative plan for the future has to include entitlement reform that solves the problem, not just acknowledges it.

Romney was spot-on in his assessment of entitlement spending and its role as a serious political issue in the future. However, 2008 Romney perhaps wouldn鈥檛 be so impressed with 2012 Romney鈥檚 economic plan, which the Wall Street Journal famously called 鈥�.鈥� They were equally unsparing about his plans for entitlement reform:

On spending, Mr. Romney joins the GOP鈥檚 鈥渃ut, cap and balance鈥� parade, setting a cap on spending over time at 20% of GDP. What Mr. Romney doesn鈥檛 do is provide even a general map for how to get there, beyond cutting spending on nonsecurity domestic programs by 5% upon taking office.

He praises Paul Ryan for making 鈥渋mportant strides鈥� on Medicare but says his plan 鈥渨ill differ,鈥� without offering details. He also says there are a 鈥渘umber of options鈥� to reform Social Security without endorsing any of them. We are told those specifics will come later. It鈥檚 hardly unusual for candidates to avoid committing to difficult proposals, but it won鈥檛 help Mr. Romney contrast his leadership with Mr. Obama鈥檚.

2. To go the distance?

鈥淓ven though we face an uphill fight, I know that many in this room are fully behind my campaign.鈥�

AUDIENCE: Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!

鈥淵ou are with me all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976.鈥�

With Newt Gingrich vowing to take the GOP race all the way to the Republican nominating convention in Tampa and Ron Paul pursuing a strategy of racking up as many convention delegates as possible even if he鈥檚 not going to win the nomination outright, this question of whether to persevere or pass to one side continues into the 2012 campaign.

But what all candidates must do is weigh their own chances against the good of the party. Thus, what has changed for Romney - and the nation - is the reason Romney gave for dropping out. For Romney, it was鈥�

1. Terrorism and 鈥渞adical jihad.鈥�

鈥淭oday we are a nation at war. And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror: They would retreat, declare defeat.

And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that would make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child鈥檚 play. About this, I have no doubt.

Now, I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know.

But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, and finding and executing Osama bin Laden.

Now, if I fight on, in my campaign, all the way to the convention鈥�I want you to know, I鈥檝e given this a lot of thought 鈥� I鈥檇 forestall the launch of a national campaign and, frankly, I鈥檇 make it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win.

Frankly, in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.鈥�

My oh my, how the times have changed. In 2008, Romney ended his campaign because he would, as he put it, draw out the GOP race and make it easier for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton win the White House and subsequently surrender to the terrorists.

Today, of course, the script is completely flipped. After killing Osama bin Laden, extricating the US from Iraq and winding down affairs in Afghanistan, working out a perhaps un-Constitutional but very effective dismantling of Muammar Qaddafi in Libya,听 using arguably extra-Constitutional measures to kill an Al Qaeda cleric who happened to be an American citizen in Yemen, and, oh, by the way, killing bin Laden, President Obama has some of the toughest foreign policy bona fides around.

To Romney鈥檚 points, there have been attempted attacks - from the underwear bomber to package bombs - but none successful as of yet and certainly nothing like a revitalized Taliban a la 2001.

The day after Romney spoke, the Dow closed at around 12,250 and the unemployment rate was, wait for it, .

听 Today, the Dow鈥檚 back to almost 13,000 - but it took a steep drop well south of 10,000听en route. And unemployment? That鈥檚 at 8.3 percent.

In a January survey, a New York Times/CBS poll found that the economy (at 56 percent) was the top factor voters would consider when voting for president. Terrorism didn鈥檛 merit a mention, although 鈥渟omething else鈥� and 鈥渦nsure鈥� together added up to seven percent.

In a sense, this change in focus from foreign policy to the economy makes Romney鈥檚 candidacy more viable in 2012 than it was in 2008. Then, foreign policy - and McCain鈥檚 long record therein- was at the fore. Today, Romney鈥檚 business experience and the economy are at the top of voters minds.听

鈥� David Grant /

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