Every vote counts, Gore tells Floridians

Former presidential candidate returns to state whose balloting snafus cost him the 2000 election.

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT, MIAMI
al gore 224 88 (photo credit: AP)
al gore 224 88
(photo credit: AP)
Former Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore returned Friday to the state that cost him the election in 2000 to urge Floridians to remember that every vote counts - and to vote correctly. Eight years ago this week, hundreds of thousands of Sunshine Staters headed to the polls where some in the heavily Jewish neighborhoods of Southern Florida selected the wrong candidate because of confusing ballots. Gore supporters have argued that he would have won the election had it not been for the misvotes because he lost the state by a razor-thin margin. "Take it from me: Elections matter. Every vote matters," he told the applauding crowd in this crucial swing state. "Florida, as you know, may well be the state that determines the outcome of this election. You may well be the person who determines the outcome here in Florida." Gore remains a popular figure among the thousands of elderly Jews here, who backed him by 79 percent to 19% over George Bush two presidential races ago. Many of those same voters are expressing hesitancy about his successor to the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama, and the latter's campaign is sending in a press of campaign heavyweights who are highly regarded in the Jewish community to help sway undecided voters in this large state. Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden and his wife Jill, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Obama are all visiting the last week of the election. The McCain campaign is also pushing hard here, as Gore's running mate Joe Lieberman - now an Independent senator from Connecticut - is among the McCain surrogates who have been stumping in the state. Arlene Fisher describes herself as "still heartbroken" over the results of 2000 and determined that it won't be repeated. She strongly supports Obama and now, she said, "Gore has come down as proof that you [Jewish voters] have nothing to fear." She said his visit serves as "a heads up to get out there - and don't get thrown by the lines." This year, Florida has already started its early voting, with lines of more than an hour in some locations. Some Democratic activists are concerned that the long lines might deter Obama voters in key neighborhoods. "Hopefully it did get across the message that it's very important to vote because we lost by so few voters [and] every vote does count," said Edith Straus, a senior citizen here who believed she used the butterfly ballot correctly in 2000 but was "terribly upset" by the problems others encountered. She noted that this year's ballots have been redesigned. The ballots at issue put the name of Al Gore across from right-wing longshot candidate Pat Buchanan, who had scant Jewish support due to having made comments some interpreted as bordering on anti-Semitism. The ballot was particularly confusing to the elderly who had trouble reading and making sense of the layout. But a fellow butterfly balloter felt Gore's visit would have little impact. "I don't think it makes a big difference," assessed Shirley Marks of Palm Beach. "Probably those people aren't even alive now."