TAMPA, Fla. On the biggest political stage of Mitt Romney's life, his biggest task was to make a personal connection with voters, to win them over as both the businessman and the man -- to lead the nation.

If the public Romney is in his rsum, the private Romney is a biography he has seemed reticent to reveal.

So on Thursday, the Republican presidential nominee talked about his parents, his wife, his children and his faith. He cast his experience building companies as a promise to rebuild the economy. And he presented himself as someone who will succeed where he said President Barack Obama has not.

There were many balance acts for Romney to hit. But perhaps the most important was portraying himself as a family man and a job creator.

"Those werent the easiest of days too many long hours and weekends working, five young sons who seemed to have this need to re-enact a different world war every night," he said of the early days of his family and his career. "But if you ask Ann and I what wed give to break up just one more fight between the boys, or wake up in the morning and discover a pile of kids asleep in our room, well, every mom and dad knows the answer to that."

Democrats have spent millions of dollars on TV trying to define Romney on their terms: an out-of-touch corporate raider in cahoots with the rich at the expense of the middle class.

It was Romneys turn Thursday to shake off the stiff veneer of his public persona and personalize himself as a principled businessman who understands the problems of cash-strapped Americans worried about keeping their jobs and paying the bills.

"When I was 37, I helped start a small company," he said of Bain Capital, the firm that has become a symbol to many voters of closing factories and outsourcing jobs. But Romney used the experience to illustrate success and to poke his Democratic opponent.

"That business we started with 10 people has now grown into a great American success story. Some of the companies we helped start are names you know," Romney said. "An office supply company called Staples where I'm pleased to see the Obama campaign has been shopping."

For all the debates, position papers, speeches and political wonkery, picking a president is a gut decision for voters more heart than head, less about ideology than emotion.

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Analysis: Mitt Romney aims to balance personal, business appeal