BATTLE FOR BALLOTS: GOP CANDIDATES LACK PARTY SUPPORT

For many Republicans, the August primary is much ado about nothing.

On the ballot, the contest is between Cabool cattle farmer Earl Durnell and a retired military man, Richard Kline of Gipsy.

But neither has support of their own party. Republican Party leaders are backing independent candidate Jo Ann Emerson, whose husband, Bill, represented the 8th District in Congress for 16 years.

Bill Emerson, who was seeking re-election, died June 22 of lung cancer. His death left Durnell and Kline as the only GOP candidates on the 8th District primary ballot.

"I am extremely disappointed in the Republican hierarchy," said Kline. "What they are going to do now is split the party," he said. "You split the party, you split the vote and a Democrat wins automatically."

Durnell predicted Jo Ann Emerson's candidacy would make for a tough, three-person race.

But Durnell still believes he can win such a race. Durnell received a third of the votes in losing to Bill Emerson in the August 1992 primary.

Durnell strongly opposes the North American Free Trade Agreement and other international agreements, which he believes helps foreign companies while hurting American business and agriculture.

"It is foolish to think that the American farmer can stand alone in the global environment when his competitor has the government behind him," he said.

"We need to write equality into the trade agreement," said Durnell. "We need to cut taxes and we need to eliminate excessive regulation and cut this endless bureaucracy that hampers the productivity of our agriculture sector and business sector."

Durnell identifies himself with the Christian Right.

Durnell said Congress needs to look after the interests of family farmers and not large, corporate farmers.

Durnell opposes abortion and gun control.

He backs the idea of a balanced budget amendment, contending it is needed to get Congress to tackle the deficit.

"We are running at another trillion dollars of debt every four years," said Durnell. "It is tragic, obscene what they have done."

Durnell added, "We have to put a leash on their spending habits and we have to put a balanced budget amendment in to encourage those people to be honest and fair in their spending habits."

Durnell backs term limits. He doesn't believe congressmen and senators should serve for more than 12 years.

"It is time at this point for these people in Congress to go back home and live in the environment they have created," he said.

Kline believes in God and prayer, the flat tax and downsizing government.

He defends his actions in placing a doctor under citizen's arrest at the veterans hospital at Poplar Bluff in 1995. He said the doctor wouldn't address his medical complaints.

He faces federal charges of disorderly conduct and unauthorized possession of pepper spray. If convicted, he could be fined $450. Kline has pleaded not guilty to the charges in federal court in Cape Girardeau.

He said veterans hospitals have mistreated veterans. He wants the hospitals put directly under the control of the military and the Department of Defense.

Kline said there needs to be more scrutiny of veterans hospitals. If elected, he would set up "a spy system" of veterans to keep tabs on the Poplar Bluff hospital.

The 57-year-old Kline said he has gotten the runaround from VA doctors since he had a heart bypass in 1987.

He said he dealt with numerous doctors after he began to suffer from dizziness, chest and stomach pain and nausea.

Kline felt the medicines the doctors prescribed him may have caused his ailments instead of alleviating them.

As to the flat tax, Kline said it offers a way to downsize government and balance the budget.

"I would dearly love to eliminate as much of the social programs as humanly possible," he said.

He wants to eliminate the Department of Agriculture. "The federal agriculture department has been a welfare agency for the farmers that can't make it," he said.

He would like to eliminate all federal subsidies, not just those for agriculture.

"Our country seems to have lost sight of God and prayer," he said. He said the federal government has taken prayer out of the public schools. "We were founded as a Christian nation. It is up to us, the Christian citizens, to take our country back," Kline said.