Former VP Gore reminds Clinton supporters of 2000 vote recount

[October 12, 2016]  MIAMI, Fla. (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton recruited Al Gore, the former vice president in her husband's administration, to raise the specter of Gore's loss to former President George W. Bush in the contentious 2000 U.S. election to urge voters to go to the polls next month.

"Take it from me," Gore told a crowd of several hundred Clinton supporters at a campaign event in a college gymnasium. "Every single vote counts. Every single vote counts."

As he campaigned for Clinton at Miami Dade College ahead of the Nov. 8 election that pits her against Republican nominee Donald Trump, Gore reminded voters of the Florida recount saga 16 years ago. Bush was declared the winner in the state by a mere 537 votes after the intervention of the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Your vote really, really, really counts," Gore said. "You can consider me as an exhibit A of that. For those of you who are younger than 25 you might not remember the election of 2000 and what happened here in Florida. For those of you older than 25, I heard you murmuring just now, but take it from me it was a very close election."

A chant grew out of the crowd: "You won! You won!"

Gore, who served as vice president under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001, also sought to put a spotlight on the fight against climate change, which has long been his signature issue.

"When it comes to the most urgent issue facing our country and the world the choice in this election is extremely clear: Hillary Clinton will make solving the climate crisis a top national priority," Gore said. "Her opponent, based on the ideas he has presented, would take us toward a climate catastrophe."

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (R) and former Vice President Al Gore wave at a rally at Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida, U.S. October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Clinton highlighted comments from her rival Donald Trump expressing skepticism about climate change.

In 2012, he said on his Twitter account that the "concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese" in order to benefit its manufacturing sector.

"We cannot put a climate denier in the White House, at all," she said. "We need a president who believes in science."

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.