CHENEY TALKS ISSUES IN CAPE

Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney dismisses all the poll talk.

Vice President Al Gore was leading Republican George Bush in some national polls. A Newsweek poll last weekend showed Gore ahead 52 percent to 38 percent among likely voters.

"I think they are grossly over reported," Cheney told local reporters following a 15-minute speech Thursday afternoon to a crowd of 700 cheering supporters at a political rally in the Lipps hanger at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. "I don't have time as a candidate to worry about polls." he said.

A campaign aide said a number of polls showed the Bush-Cheney ticket up a percentage point. But Cheney said the only certainty is that the race appears "very close."

This was Cheney's first visit here. Bush visited Cape Girardeau last year. The Bush campaign has spent a lot of time in Missouri, one of the key battleground states in the presidential election.

Cheney said the upcoming political debates, including the vice presidential debate, are important.

Cheney remains optimistic about the Republican Party's chances to win back the White House. "I wouldn't have gotten into the race unless I feel we had a good shot of winning," he told reporters after the rally.

Cheney told reporters that he and Bush support a limited increase in the minimum wage. But he said too large an increase could hurt small businesses.

He also touched briefly on other issues at the political rally.

"We want to reform the tax code and repair the United States military and return it to its former glory," he said.

Cheney said it takes time to build up the military. It takes nine years, he said, to build an aircraft carrier.

Cheney said he and Bush want to repair the Medicare system and provide prescription drug coverage for the nation's elderly.

The vice presidential candidate said Gore has promised to provide prescription drug coverage too. But Cheney said the Democratic presidential candidate has been making that promise for years and has never delivered on it.

"He is campaigning again this year for it," said Cheney.

Cheney and his wife, Lynne, arrived at the airport around 2 p.m. in a 727 plane that sported "Bush-Cheney" in big letters on both sides.

Mayor Al Spradling III and several other dignitaries greeted the Cheneys as they stepped onto the tarmac. State Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, served as master of ceremonies for the rally, which began about 1 p.m.

Kinder, state Reps. Mary Kasten of Cape Girardeau and Bill Foster of Poplar Bluff, and GOP lieutenant governor candidate Wendell Bailey spoke at the rally prior to the Cheneys arrival.

"What a glorious day," Kasten said as the Cheneys walked into the hangar and made their way to the stage.

A huge American flag provided a backdrop for the stage. Prior to the start of the rally, workers rehung the flag after it was discovered the flag initially was hung with the blue field of stars on the wrong side.

Rally organizers had printed 600 admission tickets for the event. Some in the audience had to stand out on the pavement as police and other security officers looked on.

Lynne Cheney introduced her husband and high-school sweetheart to the crowd. "He was a great guy growing up," she said, recalling their days as sweethearts in Casper, Wyo.

The couple recently celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary.

In his speech, Cheney said he and Bush would provide "the kind of government we can be proud of once again."

The soft-spoken Cheney said the presidential election could "set the tone and direction" of the nation for the next 50 years.

"It's going to be a hard fought campaign" he told the crowd. "We want to get elected. We need your help on Nov. 7."