Faced with a flood of news stories (including mine) criticizing his sudden, post-Iowa makeover as the Republican "candidate of change"--plus stinging rebukes from rivals John McCain (above) and Fred Thompson in Saturday's ABC/Facebook debate--Mitt Romney's press shop yesterday sent out a release claiming that "throughout this campaign, Governor Romney has addressed the need for change in Washington" and providing reporters with a handy "timeline." Excerpts:

APRIL 2007:  Outlining His Foreign Policy, Gov. Romney Decried The "Divisiveness, The Bitterness, The Smallness, The Disunity" Of Washington.

JULY 2007:  Gov. Romney: "I Can Change Washington." 

OCTOBER 2007:  Gov. Romney Says "Washington Is A Real Mess." 

Delightful. Except that the very necessity of such a press release proves that Romney has a problem. No presidential candidate has ever praised Washington; everyone says "change" on occasion. But Romney has spent the entirety of his bid presenting himself as an unobjectionable by-the-book Republican--the very opposite of a change agent. Having to tell people you're being consistent is never a good sign.

For future reference, Mitt: once the dike has broken, the finger is useless.