MIAMI, Oct 25 (AFP) - With a week to go to election day, the presidential campaigns deployed some heavyweights to stump in the crucial battleground state of Florida, including former president Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush's twin daughters.
Clinton's former vice president and 2000 presidential candidate Al Gore and John Kerry's wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, also campaigned in south Florida Monday.
Florida, a swing state likely to play a pivotal role on Election Day, November 2, has become a battleground for the presidential campaigns.
"You know as well as I do that Florida can determine the outcome of this election," a thinner but energized Clinton told an enthusiastic rally in downtown Miami.
To thunderous applause, he told the crowd of several thousands that many of their votes did not count four years ago, and that was all the more reason to make them count now.
Many Democrats feel Bush robbed the 2000 election when the US Supreme Court halted five weeks of Florida recounts, leaving him with a 537-vote lead over Democrat Al Gore, which secured him the presidency.
Many of those at the rally were African-American, a traditionally Democrat voting bloc, whose participation in the elections is seen as crucial to a Kerry victory in Florida.
On Tuesday, Clinton was expected to address Jewish voters, who have traditionally backed Democratic candidates but who are actively courted by Republicans, touting Bush's pro-Israel policies.
Gore addressed a series of meetings in Florida since Sunday, while Heinz Kerry campaigned in Miami.
Bush's daughters Jenna and Barbara, meanwhile, were at their dad's Miami-Dade campaign headquarters, where they thanked volunteers for their support.
10/26/2004 01:46 GMT - AFP