Filed by KOSU News in US News.
October 24, 2012

The Broward County judge who famously helped analyze Florida ballots in 2000 resurfaced Wednesday in an Obama campaign ad that’s all about a get-out-the-vote message.

The ad – called “537″ — airing in eight swing states, begins with images of the 2000 Florida recount in the presidential race between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore.

More than a month after the 2000 election, the U.S. Supreme Court stopped a Florida recount, giving Bush the state by 537 votes (and by virtue of Florida, the presidency).

The ad tells Obama supporters that 537 is “the number of votes that changed the course of American history.”

Already airing in Ohio, and scheduled to air in Florida, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Virginia and Wisconsin, the ad says: “This year, if you’re thinking that your vote doesn’t count, that it won’t matter, well, back then there were probably at least 537 people who felt the same way.”

The ad appears to be the first time the Obama campaign has made a blatant reference to the 2000 recount in an ad, even using memorable images of election officials — and Broward County canvassing board member Judge Robert Rosenberg — analyzing ballots for hanging chads.

Republican Mitt Romney also has been imploring his supporters to get to the polls, but in more traditional ways.

“I need you to vote. Early voting has begun,” Romney said Wednesday at a rally in Reno, Nev. “I need you to get your neighbors to vote. I need you to find one person who voted for Barack Obama last time and get them to come out and vote for us this time.” [Copyright 2012 National Public Radio]