Gore Urges Voters: "Take Your Souls to the Polls"

November 5, 2000

Source: Los Angeles Times

On November 5, 2000, The Los Angeles Times reported that Vice President Al Gore swept through Tennessee, West Virginia and Pennsylvania on Saturday, urging voters to "take your souls to the polls." Beginning with a prayer breakfast in Memphis, Gore talked about supporting the people who "are struggling to get by." During his remarks to the ministers, he couched his comments in biblical context. He also evoked the memory of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., with the help of King's son, who went to Memphis to introduce Gore to the mostly African-American group. African-Americans are the Democratic party's most loyal support base. "It's time to take your souls to the polls. It's time to choose the future. Its time to be the change we want to see in Memphis and in Tennessee and in the United States of America," Gore said.