Gore: Turn Anger Into Energy

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. – Al Gore (search) urged Florida voters on Monday to transform any leftover anger from the 2000 presid much was the same.

"Where do I start? Four years seems like four hours," Gore said. "We are in the same struggle for our country's future."

He said he still feels strongly that the Supreme Court decision was wrong but that he respects the institution.

He asked for a moment of quiet respect for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist (search), who was hospitalized outside Washington for treatment of thyroid cancer.

Gore was in the second day of a two-day swing through Florida at early voting sites urging voters to cast ballots before the Nov. 2 election.

"The time to vote is today," Gore said.

"Never again," activists chanted at a rally Sunday in Tallahassee, as Democrats waved signs "2000 Recount We Will Not Forget."

Gore was mixing a good dose of humor with his message that voters shouldn't forget what happened four years ago.

"I flew on Air Force Two for eight years. Now I have to take off my shoes to get on an airplane," he said.

Gore repeatedly took the chance to poke fun at himself, telling a story about driving down a road with his wife, Tipper, shortly after losing the last election.

"I looked in the rearview mirror and all of a sudden it just hit me, there was no motorcade there," he said. "You've heard of phantom limb pain."

Polls show Florida's 27 electoral votes are in doubt again this year with the race closely divided between Bush and Kerry. Four years ago, Gore lost by 537 votes in the state after the Supreme Court voted to stop ballot recounts in several Florida counties.

"Turn all of that energy and all of these feelings into a nonstop effort between now and the time the polls close at 7 p.m. on November 2," Gore said. "If anybody ever tells you that one vote doesn't count, you tell them to come talk to me."