Romney Returns To CEO Image At Corporation Speech

DES MOINES, IOWA -- Mitt Romney ditched the sweater and khakis this morning in favor of a suit and tie, as he spoke to several hundred employees at Principal Financial Group.

Romney spoke for a much longer time than he has generally been doing over the past few days, and in many ways, the speech was a return to the more in-depth speeches he has given for the majority of the campaign. He even took questions from the audience — something Romney has not done in Iowa since he returned to the state from New Hampshire after Christmas.

Romney was clearly trying to present a serious face in contrast to Mike Huckabee, who yucked it up with Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" last night. But the former Massachusetts governor did get in a solid one-liner, nonetheless.

"Tensions are getting high and comments are being made that are really quite questionable," Romney deadpanned. "I saw just yesterday the chairman of Governor Huckabee's campaign said that he would like to knock my teeth out. My only comment on that is, 'Don't touch the hair!'"

During the question and answer session, Romney was asked whether his campaign could be expected to launch more attack ads during the general election.

"Absolutely," Romney said without hesitation. "You can bet that what we're going to talk about is differences on issues. And I think it's an important time for this country to focus on the differences on how we feel about critical issues."

He then added a caveat.

"One thing I'm also going to point out — particularly in the Republican campaign — I'm not going to attack the character of other people I'm running against," Romney said. "Ronald Reagan talked about the 11th Commandment. You're not going to hear me saying that somebody else is dishonorable or dishonest or that they're not smart or that they're not wise."