Mitt Romney Wins Illinois Primary
U.S Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney waves to supporters with his wife Ann during his Illinois primary night rally in Schaumburg, Illinois, 20 March, 2012. Reuters

Hopeful First Lady Ann Romney continues to play the humanizer in Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, claiming her husband can be wild and crazy despite his seemingly uptight demeanor.

I still look at him as the boy I met in high school when he was playing all the jokes and really just being crazy, Ann said with Mitt by her side in an interview on CBS This Morning Tuesday. There's a wild and crazy man inside there.

He's stiff? He's not, Ann said smiling, grabbing a laughing Mitt by the shoulders. It's an interesting thing that again, people like to keep him in that narrative. So it's nice for me as a wife to say 'no, look, this is the person that's really there, this is the boy that I knew.'

Ann Romney has been playing an increasingly significant role in her husband's campaign the past month, going out on the trail to battle her husband's reputation as a stiff, awkward corporate robot out of touch with regular voters.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll from April 10 found that most voters -- 64 to 26 percent -- found President Obama more friendly and likable than his GOP rival.

Since the election cycle began, the multimillionaire businessman has put his foot in his mouth on a number of occasions. The Obama campaign has used the gaffes to describe Romney as insincere and disconnected with regular America; a campaign aide recently referred to reports that his new California home will have car elevators, and Obama joked about the time Romney put his dog on the roof of his car on a trip from Boston to Canada during the White House Correspondents dinner last weekend. That image is further propelled by the fact that Romney doesn't drink alcohol or coffee.

Ann's role to expose her husband's more human side has become evident as she continues to appear by him at campaign events and often does interviews solo. She made a comment similar to the one on CBS This Morning about Mitt a month ago on Baltimore radio station WBAL: When the host asked what she thought of claims her husband was too stiff, Ann responded we better unzip him and let the real Mitt Romney out.

On Tuesday, she blamed the political narrative for trying to define her husband in a certain way.

I think in politics this is what always happens, Ann Romney said. There is a narrative, you like to put someone in a box and keep them in a box.

Other than helping Mitt come across as more of a regular guy, Ann plays a critical role in helping her husband win over women. According to a Rasmussen poll released Tuesday, 56 percent of women see presidential candidates' wives as an important factor in their vote.