“President Obama is not going to run on his record, but we are,” said Ed Gillespie, a senior adviser to the Romney campaign. He said Mr. Romney would detail his economic vision as he prepared to challenge Mr. Obama, declaring, “It’s not just about the last three years, but the future.”…

The Romney campaign is aggressively looking into all aspects of the Obama administration, with a plan to present the president as a nice and likable but unsuited to solving the country’s economic challenges. Aides said they intended to keep the conversation focused on Mr. Obama’s record in the White House and not his personal biography.

“There is a pretty broad view that President Obama is a good family man and decent guy, but may be in over his head,” said Mr. Gillespie, a former counselor to George W. Bush, who was brought into the Romney campaign this month. He said the argument against re-election would be built around the suggestion that Mr. Obama “has not displayed strong leadership, but failed leadership and weak leadership.”