BAILEY SAYS HE WILL WIN GOVERNOR'S OFFICE

State Treasurer Wendell Bailey began the final day of a 16-day, 89-stop campaign tour in Cape Girardeau Friday, convinced that his decision to limit campaign contributions will carry him into the governor's office next year.

Bailey said his tour to formally kick off his campaign for the Republican nomination for governor was "an awareness trip" to let voters understand he is sincere about changing Missouri politics so that big money is not the dominant factor.

"Folks, this isn't a crazy idea; this is the most common-sense thing I've done," said Bailey. "It's never been done in the state of Missouri before and we think we're taking a leadership role in the state."

Bailey said many people have expressed frustration with government and political campaigns because they feel large contributors are controlling elected officials.

To address that concern, and to eliminate the need to become involved in "dialing for dollars" throughout the campaign, Bailey is limiting contributions from businesses and individuals to $100. He explained that the limit started Aug. 4, one year before the primary election, and limits contributions to $100 this calendar year and $100 in the next calendar leading up to the primary.

Bailey said he considered a limit of $500 or $1,000 in contributions, or announcing limits later, but decided if there was going to be meaningful campaign reforms it was necessary to announce the limit well in advance of the election. He said that to most people in Missouri $100 is a significant contribution.

"How much you put in your warchest should not be the leading idea of a campaign," Bailey said. "It should be focuses on issues and ideas. We will change politics in the state of Missouri."

To illustrate his campaign theme, Bailey has been making his tour in a 1977 Checker taxi painted bright yellow with license plates: "GOV-92." The taxi also proclaims that Bailey is "not for hire."

In his re-election campaign for state treasurer in 1988, Bailey toured the state in an antique armored car.

On July 31, before starting the driving tour of his trip, Bailey appeared at an airport news conference in Cape Girardeau to announce his campaign contribution limit. He admitted he had some doubts whether it would work.

But on Friday Bailey said, after discussing it with people across the state, he is confident of victory and getting more votes in the GOP primary than the other candidates combined. "Then I'll beat the Democratic candidate with half my brain tied behind my back," said Bailey.

Although Bailey is the only Republican to formally announce, others who are actively pursuing the race are Attorney General William Webster and Secretary of State Roy Blunt.

If elected, Bailey said every time he has to make an appointment it won't be necessary to look at a contribution list to see who he can appoint. That ability to pick the best qualified people will make government more effective, provide more common sense, and pave the way for new approaches to problems, he said.

"You just can't solve problems with the same type of thinking that created it," said Bailey. "We're going to change the way government works in Missouri."

Bailey pointed out that the five U.S. senators known as the "Keating Five" returned $1.2 million in campaign contributions from the savings and loan industry; in 1984, his opponent for treasurer, Tom Villa, received a $128,000 contribution from Central Trust Bank in Jefferson City; and in 1988, his opponent, Bob Holden, received $70,000 from Central Trust Bank.

In remarks to a small crowd of supporters that had coffee with him at the Holiday Inn, Bailey touched on a variety of topics that emphasized the need to bring common sense to government.

Bailey said he agreed with comments earlier in the week by Vice President Dan Quayle that the nation has too many lawyers and saw no reason for the U.S. to have 70 percent of the world's lawyers. "If a worker gets hurt today, three people get paid - the injured person and two attorneys," said Bailey.

He also criticized the $1.2 billion Missouri has had to spend on court-ordered desegregation and Medicaid income requirements that discourage people from working.

Bailey said that as state treasurer Missouri's average daily investment was the highest percentage in the nation. He pointed out that last year the state earned a record $84 million in interest.

Among the position papers Bailey has released since formally declaring his candidacy last December is one on abortion and the right to die. Unlike other Republican candidates running for governor, Bailey has taken a pro-choice approach.

"Nobody is in favor of abortion, but when it comes down to making the choice I'm for leaving that up to women and families, not government," explained Bailey. "You can't delegate your moral responsibility to government."

Bailey, who pointed out that his wife Jane was home in Willow Springs preparing for another year as a kindergarten teacher, said he planned to vote for Proposition B on the November ballot. The proposal would provide additional funding and require reforms for education.

"I think if people vote no we signal to the legislature that we don't want more money spent for education," Bailey said.