As people waited in line to see first lady Michelle Obama speak at the University of Florida's Stephen C. O'Connell Center on Monday afternoon, a small group of Romney supporters gathered near the Gator statue at the corner of Gale Lemerand Drive and Stadium Road.
The protesters held signs in support of President Obama's opponent, Mitt Romney.
"I don't think we're going to change people's minds in that parking lot, in that line," said Stafford Jones, the Alachua County Republican Party chairman. "(We're) showing that there is a Romney presence in Alachua County, and it's a pretty good presence."
While President Obama will likely win the youth vote in 2012 as he did in 2008, a contingent of UF students was part of the pro-Romney group.
Sarah Amann, a junior event management and telecommunication major, stood among them.
"I'm out here because four years (ago), Obama ran on a campaign of hope and change, and I don't really feel that worked for anyone," Amann said. "...Quite honestly, I want to get a job when I graduate, and I don't think the state of the economy is anywhere near that right now."