Seeking votes in the Sunshine State

As Mitt Romney fired up a crowd of supporters in Sarasota, Air Force One was making its way to touchdown in Tampa Thursday afternoon.

Whichever man it is, the next president of the United States is in the Tampa Bay area, fighting for votes in this crucial area of swing voters.

Mitt Romney appeared in Sarasota at the Ringling Museum, where supporters and protesters lined up outside and had to be separated by police.

Romney's focus in his speech was making the case that he will protect and strengthen Medicare, and made the case that President Obama is weakening it.

"He cut Medicare by $716 billion, and if I'm president, I'm gonna put that $716 back in to Medicare, back into the care of our seniors," Romney told the crowd.

Air Force One touched down at Tampa International Airport just after 5:30 p.m., and President Obama exited the plane to greet Mayor Bob Buckhorn and city council members Charlie Miranda and Mary Mulhern, among others.

The following coverage of the fundraiser was provided by William March of the Tampa Tribune:

Musician Eddie Vedder helped kick off an exclusive fund raiser tonight in Tampa for President Barack Obama by playing a ukulele and making light of the birther movement that questions whether Obama was born in America.

"I thought it might be appropriate to play a Hawaiian instrument," said Vedder, a founder of the Seattle rock group PearlJam. "It's a ukele. It's made in Hawaii. It's got a little birth certificate right in there."

Vedder played for 50 to 70 people beneath a tent in the back yard of the Palma Ceia home of Lisa DeBartolo, daughter of developer Eddie DeBartolo Jr., and her husband, singer-songwriter Don Miggs.

Among those in attendance was former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a lifelong Republican who switched his loyalty to President Obama and earned a speaking slot during the Democratic National Convention earlier this month.

Earlier this evening, Obama greeted a crowd of about 100 supporters at Tampa International Airport after landing aboard Air Force One to attend the fundraiser.

Obama spent about ten minutes talking with supporters along a rope line before his motorcade departed for South Tampa about 5:40 p.m.

On hand to greet Obama today were Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and city council members Mary Mulhern and Charlie Miranda.

Also in the crowd at the airport was campaign supporter Maxine Walsh-Miller, who said her message for the president would be simple if she gets a chance to speak with him: "Four more years."

Air Force veteran Joseph Mark Orimoloye, a native of Nigeria, said as he awaited the president that he would tell Obama, "I can truly say I've done all I can to help him win Florida."

Denise Smith of Tampa said, "He's for all the things near and dear to me - education and the middle class."