BEDFORD, New Hampshire -- Speaking to supporters in this affluent Manchester suburb, Mitt Romney offered his closing argument to New Hampshire voters as the race for the Granite State draws to a close. Romney only briefly touched on his usual topics -- tax cuts and health care -- and his background as a business executive who successfully turned around the Salt Lake City Olympics and neighboring Massachusetts, instead focusing on a new message of changing Washington that clearly targeted rival John McCain.

"I'm looking forward to the opportunity to go to Washington and shake things up," Romney told the gathered crowd. "I've spent my life changing things. I've not spent my life in the political arena, where talking about something is considered a success." Romney sounded optimistic about his chances of winning what is shaping up to be a state critical to getting his campaign back on track. "I need one thing to make that happen, which is all your money and all your votes," he joked.

After coming in a disappointing second place in the Iowa caucuses, Romney needs to win here. But the candidate says Iowa sent a message that works in his favor. "The person who was known for all his years in Washington, John McCain, came in fourth," Romney said. "Some new guys came in number one and number two."

Few in the crowd felt the caucuses diminished Romney's chances for a win here. Joe Nasser, of Manchester, dismissed Iowa going for Mike Huckabee. "The religious aspect won for him there," he said. Nasser likes Romney's message of changing Washington, and says it's one reason he prefers Romney to McCain. "There is absolutely no change coming from" McCain, he said.

Romney "speaks so the average person can understand him," said Mike Lomazzo, a Romney backer from Windham, New Hampshire. Lomazzo said he considered supporting Democrat Barack Obama, but the campaign event he attended had a circus atmosphere. When Romney speaks, "it's not a pep rally," he said.

Lomazzo and Nasser each think Romney will win New Hampshire. To do so, though, Romney has to get past a difficult field that includes front-running McCain. Romney's closing argument uses the change theme to take direct aim at McCain. While the GOP field has several "excellent" candidates, "some of them have been in this battle for years and years," he says. "They've had their chance."

Trying to tie a candidate like McCain is difficult, though. Many Republicans dislike McCain particularly because he has been about as anti-Washington as possible, bucking his party, often alone, on ethics reform and issues like the financing of campaigns. McCain has even used his unpopularity in television ads in New Hampshire, saying he didn't go to Washington to become Mr. Congeniality.

Romney, though, is running out of options. Tying McCain to Washington, an atmosphere unpopular among Republicans as well as independents who might consider voting in the GOP primary, may be his best shot at righting his campaign. Whether he can recover could be determined at a debate tonight in Manchester. Given Romney's focus on Washington today, McCain should prepare to be a target. Whoever comes out on top tonight may find themselves in the winner's circle on Tuesday night.