Politico, please define the “new” Mitt Romney

Did you know there's a “new” (read: improved) Romney? It's true, it says so right in this Politico headline:

CPAC embraces the new Mitt Romney

How, exactly, does Politico know there's a “new” Romney? Surprise! Romney “aides” says so. (Brilliant!)

And how do we know CPAC has embraced the “new” Romney? Because people at CPAC applauded when Romney spoke, even though, yeah, they pretty much clap for everyone.