She wore the hat to the event "because it is just a symbol of what the man does," Huffer said, saying she had feared during her plans to attend the Games that they wouldn't happen. "He just goes in and alakazam, it's fixed."

Meanwhile, on the far edge of an office parking lot where Romney had a campaign stop in Pensacola on Friday, four men in white shirts, black ties and matching name tags watched and listened.

Florida-based missionaries, who have not been able to turn on a television or read a newspaper in months, wanted to hear what Romney had to say.

As they do their mission work, people have been asking them questions about Romney, and while the missionaries know they are forbidden from talking politics with potential converts, Elder Christopher Teague from Los Angeles said people have said they like what Romney has to say.

"Most of the time it's positive," said Elder Teague, who added that he usually finds a way to shift the conversation back to religion.

Elder Spencer Pond, originally from Seattle, said he makes it clear to people that he does not represent Romney but is interested in telling them about his religion.

"That's what we do, the religion part of it," Elder Pond said.

Later, at a press conference in St. Petersburg, a reporter asked Romney if it was appropriate for missionaries to be at campaign rallies and if the former Massachusetts governor was comfortable with them being there.

"This is America; I guess people can go wherever they'd like to go," Romney said. "I don't have any comment on that."

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E-mail: suzanne@desnews.com