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Al Gore in Florida: Your Vote Really, Really Counts

The 2016 action turns to Florida on Tuesday as both candidates stumping in the state with Democrats getting some help from high-profile surrogates.
Image: An Art Deco style sign welcomes visitors
MIAMI BEACH, UNITED STATES: An Art Deco style sign welcomes visitors to Miami Beach, Florida 19 September 2006. The city of Miami Beach has a concentration of over 800 Art Deco buildings all within one square mile. The white-and pastel-colored stucco buildings originally built in the 1920's have in the past two decades been restored to their former splendor. Some of the characteristics of the Art Deco movement in Miami include over-all symmetry, ziggurat (stepped) rooflines, glass block, decorative sculptural panels, eyebrows, round porthole windows, terrazzo floors, curved edges and corners, elements in groups of three and neon lighting used in both exteriors as well as interior spaces. The chamber of commerce for the city reports that some 7,281,200 visitors came to South Beach in 2004. AFP PHOTO/Roberto Schmidt (Photo credit should read ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images)ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP/Getty Images

Former Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday reminded Florida voters just how important their vote really is and touted Hillary Clinton as the only candidate who will make climate change a priority during his first campaign stop for the Democratic nominee.

“Your vote really, really, really counts. A lot. You can consider me as an exhibit A of that truth,” Gore said during the rally in Miami. "For those of you who are younger than 25, you might not remember the election of 2000 and what happened here in Florida and across the country."

The 2000 Democratic presidential nominee’s White House hopes were dashed in the Sunshine State after the Supreme Court ruled against continuing the recount there in his race against George W. Bush. It marked the fourth time in U.S. history a candidate won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College.

Supporters chanted "You won" as Gore outlined the importance of the 2016 election.

The Clinton campaign said they see Gore as a "triple threat" in Florida. They hope he can engage millennials, those leaning towards supporting a third-party candidate, and people who care deeply about the human impact on the environment.

In addition to taking on voter apathy, Gore focused his speech on what has become his life's work since leaving public office -- climate change. He argued that Clinton is the only candidate who will make the issue a top priority.

"Her opponent, based on the ideas that he has presented, would take us towards a climate catastrophe," Gore said.

While introducing Gore, who won a Nobel Prize in 2007 for his efforts to promote awareness about the impacts of climate change, Clinton said she looks forward to having her husband’s former VP as an advisor on environmental policy.

“We cannot risk putting a climate denier in the White House…We need a president who believes in science,” Clinton said while knocking Donald Trump.

Gore's former running mate Bill Clinton will also be spending Tuesday in Florida. As will Donald Trump, who trails Clinton by three points in the state, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

The Democratic nominee is ahead among likely voters, 45 percent to 42 percent, in the poll conducted before the release of a 2005 video featuring Trump speaking lewdly about groping women.

Both candidates will be making stops in areas of the state where they enjoy strongholds of support. Clinton maintains a 57 percent to 34 percent lead in Miami, while Trump has a 52 percent to 42 percent edge in Florida's Panhandle. He'll appear in Panama City on Tuesday night.

The poll also found Trump with a 12-point deficit among likely voters in Pennsylvania. It would be near impossible for the GOP nominee to get the necessary 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House if he loses both states.

"Florida is the key. If we win Florida, there's no way my opponent can win," Hillary Clinton said during a radio interview in Miami on Tuesday.