BROTHER OF PRESIDENT VISITS CAPE; ASHCROFT MAKES 11TH HOUR APPEAL

William H.T. Bush and Missouri Governor John Ashcroft were in Cape Girardeau Sunday with an eleventh-hour appeal to voters to support President George Bush in Tuesday's election.

The campaigners met with about 25 supporters at a news conference at the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport.

William Bush, the president's brother who lives in St. Louis, and Ashcroft both described the president as a man of integrity and an experienced leader and fighter qualities they said Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton lacks.

"George Bush didn't take a vacation from communism, he fought against it," said his brother. "He's taken on Congress when they've tried to take us in the wrong direction, and he's taken on and defeated foreign tyrants."

Ashcroft said Missouri's economy has done relatively well under Bush, with economic growth in 13 of the 15 quarters since he took office.

William Bush said a rise nationally in exports has resulted in 50,000 new Missouri jobs in the past four years.

"We cannot afford a gamble with this untried, unknown governor of a small state," he said.

Bush quoted from a "non-endorsement" of Clinton in his "home-town newspaper," the Little Rock Arkansas Gazette Democrat on Oct. 28:

"Bill Clinton is a master politician, but what principles, if any, inform his politics?" the column said. "Here embodies the glossy spirit of the times, but is it a spirit to be encouraged? Are there any steadfast principles besides winning the next election that he would never compromise to win popularity? Who knows? And if we don't, how can we recommend him to America as a leader?"

"This editorial is from a paper that knows Bill Clinton best," Bush said.

Ashcroft said that although the national media tend to paint a gloomy economic picture, nationally, the economy is improving.

"It's clear to me, given the fact that things are going in the right direction, to make a switch now would be a mistake," he said.

The governor said Clinton would raise taxes, which ultimately would cost Missouri jobs.

Ashcroft displayed an enlarged copy of what he called Clinton's simplified tax form. The display was comprised of only two lines: "How much money did you make?" and "Send it in."

"Governor Clinton wants to take money from private hands through taxation and turn it over to the government," he said. "He believes in trickle-down government.

"But trickle-down government has never worked in the past, and it won't work now," Ashcroft added. "It's a very, very risky strategy."

Ashcroft said the most important quality a president should possess is character. He said Clinton has been shown to take whichever position is politically safe and expedient, avoiding hard choices.

"When the emergency phone rings in the White House, I've been thankful that by the grace of God, the hand that holds the phone is that of George Bush," Ashcroft said.

Both Ashcroft and Bush downplayed the significance of the president's apparent surge in the polls recently. They said more people than ever this year are simply refusing to cooperate with pollsters.

"More people this year refused to participate in polls than the number of people who have been polled," said Ashcroft.

The governor also pointed to the volatility of the polls as an indication of their unreliability. He said Ross Perot was at 15 percent in Missouri polls and within weeks had climbed to 25 percent, only to drop to about 15 percent again within a week or two.

"I'm not sure people are changing their minds," Ashcroft added. "There's a very substantial number of undecided yet."

Bush said that regardless of the polls, the majority of voters share Bush's and the Republican party's values.

"The silent majority in this country is a conservative one," he said. "As that vote materializes in the ballot box, it will become very evident."