By KASIE HUNT and THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Mitt Romney is about to get personal.

The GOP's presidential nominee-to-be wants to use his four-day party next week in Florida to play up his life story following a summer filled with a barrage of TV ads - courtesy of President Barack Obama and his allies - that cast him as a ruthless and out-of-touch businessman.

He'll surround himself with his five sons, five daughters-in-law and 15 of his 18 grandchildren. Romney's wife, Ann, will play her biggest role yet. A parade of athletes Romney met as an Olympic organizer, such as hockey legend Mike Eruzione, will be on hand. So will doting parishioners he helped as a lay pastor in the Mormon Church in Boston.

From the stagecraft to the speakers' roster, the agenda for the convention that starts Monday is carefully crafted toward one goal: introducing Romney to the country on his own terms while projecting him as the leader the country needs in tough economic times - and Obama as a failure on that front.

"We go to a convention and for the first time define Mitt a little bit better," said Ron Kaufman, a top Romney adviser.

Aides dismiss the notion that the former Massachusetts governor needs to repair a damaged image after a summer of negative ads and a recent string of missteps, including Friday when he waded into a debunked conspiracy theory by raising the issue of Obama's citizenship.

"No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate," Romney joked at a rally in the suburbs of Detroit while visiting his native state. "They know that this is the place that we were born and raised."

Romney later Friday in a CBS News interview said he had not intended the comment as a swipe at Obama.

Just a day earlier, Romney caused himself another potential headache when he said big business was "doing fine" due to off-shore tax havens. It was a comment that echoed a claim similar to one he had criticized Obama for making, and it also reminded voters of Romney's own overseas accounts.

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Romney to feature personal side at convention