ASHCROFT CAMPAIGNS IN CAPE

A guitar-playing U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft preached "Missouri values" and sang "God Bless America" as he campaigned in Southeast Missouri Friday.

Ashcroft visited the Bootheel as part of his six-day bus trip around the state to launch his re-election campaign.

Ashcroft's two-bus caravan began the day in Perryville and ended in Poplar Bluff. Along the way the senator stopped in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston and Kennett.

The bus trip began in St. Joseph on Monday. It is scheduled to end Sunday in Carthage. In all, Ashcroft is scheduled to make 32 stops on his campaign trip.

The senator is seeking re-election to a second, six-year term.

Ashcroft and his wife, Janet, and about 60 supporters held a rally in Cape Girardeau on the front lawn of the Leslie and J.D. Lochmann home at 720 S. West End Blvd. Many of the supporters arrived by bus carrying Ashcroft campaign signs.

Speaking from the front porch of the stately brick home, Ashcroft said he was announcing his re-election campaign from the homes of Missourians to emphasize the importance of families.

"It is where the values exist," said Ashcroft, suggesting government would be wise to adopt family values.

"This campaign is really more of a cause than a campaign," he told placard-waving supporters. "I think we need to understand we have values that come form our homes and our families."

Ashcroft said "kitchen-table" values helped make the World War II generation the great generation that it was.

The Republican senator, who is opposed in November by Gov. Mel Carnahan, called for an end to the marriage penalty and the inheritance tax. Couples face a $1,400 tax burden just for getting married, he said.

"Uncle Sham shouldn't be penalizing marriage," he said. Ashcroft confessed he meant to say "Uncle Sam" but committed a Freudian slip.

Ashcroft said there is a need to address the nation's problems in everything from a drug epidemic to education. "We want to fix the problem, not the blame," he said.

The federal government shouldn't mandate a "one-size-fits-all" program of public education, Ashcroft said.

Speaking later to reporters, Ashcroft said he won't ignore agriculture in his campaign. "We don't need to tell farmers you are free to farm, but you are not free to market," he said, referring to the need for government not to impose food embargoes on foreign nations.

Ashcroft said Congress and the nation would be better off if Republican presidential candidate George Bush wins the White House.

Ashcroft criticized Vice President Al Gore, Bush's Democratic opponent in November. "Al Gore believes in the philosophy of scarcity," Ashcroft told reporters. "He feels we ought to stop having gasoline engines."

The senator said he prefers a philosophy that stresses the value of work. "Missouri is a state of producers. It's not just a bunch of consumers," he said.