Jose "Pepe" Diaz of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners said that Luis Arrizurieta, a veteran of the Bay of Pigs invasion, gave Romney the shirt "with tears in his eyes." The campaign said Romney changed out of his shirt and tie at the event to wear the shirt, and Diaz said it would have been "a major insult" had he not accepted it. Arrizurieta is a member of the board there. Romney previously met the veteran when he spoke to members of the Miami post of the Bay of Pigs brigade 2506.

"I have a feeling I won't be wearing it throughout the campaign, but I sure am proud and happy to wear it on such a warm day in Miami," Romney said.

Diaz said Romney comes with a straight-forward message that the government is not working and he wants to fix it.

"He doesn't just generalize something, he's detailed it and said how he is going to do it," Diaz said. "We are tired of the rhetoric."

As Diaz introduced Romney to the crowd, he reminded them that he "fixed something that was unfixable," describing the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. He said he took the entity that was $380 million "in the hole" and fixed it.

"He knows more about finance than any other candidate," Diaz said.

Diaz also pointed to the "family values" of Romney. Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have five sons, five daughters-in-law and 11 grandchildren — including nearly 2-year old Parker Mitt Romney, who joined his grandfather on the stage.

Homemade signs in the crowd said "Romney para nuestra familias" or Romney for our families, and one supporter designed a shirt that said "Nuestra familia apoyan a Mitt Romney," which she said meant "Our family endorses Mitt Romney."

Romney had a light campaign schedule Sunday but has a packed five-city "Change Begins With Us" tour planned for today as part of the last push to get people to the polls.

Romney will start in West Palm Beach then fly to Fort Myers, Orlando, Panama City and Jacksonville before settling in St. Petersburg, where he also will have his election night party.

Meanwhile, Romney's campaign also announced Sunday that Elizabeth Cheney has joined the campaign as a senior foreign policy adviser. Cheney was a national campaign co-chair for the Fred Thompson presidential campaign, but the actor and former U.S. senator has dropped out of the race.

Cheney previously worked as the principal deputy assistant secretary of state of near-Eastern affairs — the second-ranking State Department official overseeing U.S. policy in the Middle East, according to the campaign.

In other race-for-the-White-House news:

• Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., will endorse Senate colleague Barack Obama for president, party officials confirmed Sunday.