BUSH PLANS CAPE VISIT; PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL TO ATTEND FUND RAISER

Texas Gov. and presidential candidate George W. Bush will visit Cape Girardeau Aug. 12 as part of a campaign swing through the Midwest.

He will hold a $1,000-a-couple fund-raising luncheon at the home of eye surgeon Dr. Charles Cozean.

Bush also will hold a public event. Details for the rally haven't been finalized, said campaign spokesman Andrew Malcolm.

Organizers have suggested as many as three events may be scheduled, including a possible stop at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port south of Cape Girardeau.

Then-vice president Dan Quayle spoke at a Republican rally at the port on Oct. 2, 1992.

Bush is slated to be in Cape Girardeau most of the morning, Malcolm said. Exact times will be announced.

Bush also is scheduled to visit Springfield, Ill., that day.

U.S. Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond is helping to organize the fund-raiser, along with U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and state Sen. Peter Kinder.

Bond is the Missouri state chairman for the Bush campaign.

Cape Girardeau native Jack Oliver also has had a hand in scheduling the visit. Oliver is the national finance director for the Bush campaign, which has raised $36 million.

Oliver helped raise more than $3 million for U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft's potential presidential bid last year.

Oliver told the Southeast Missourian earlier this month that his fund-raising success is due in large measure to the character of the politicians for whom he has worked.

"The people I have worked for and been around are people of tremendously high character, and they truly work to make a difference in people's lives," Oliver said.

This won't be the first visit to Cape Girardeau by a member of the Bush family.

His father, George Bush, campaigned in Cape Girardeau on Oct. 22, 1984, while serving as the nation's vice president. The elder Bush visited Southeast Missouri State University. Amid tight security, about 600 people crowded into the University Center Ballroom for what was billed as an "Ask George Bush" session.

As for the younger Bush, Malcolm said the Texas governor has been drawing large turnouts at his campaign events.

"He has said he wants to get out and meet real Americans and shake their hands," Malcolm said when asked why Cape Girardeau is on the campaign schedule.

Bush has focused on a number of issues in his campaign stops.

Said Malcolm, "He talks about his desire to bring some dignity back to the White House and the need to build up our national defense, and the importance of freeing individuals and faith-based institutions to participate more fully in helping those in need."