CLINTON TO INVADE HOMETOWN OF LIMBAUGH

Conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh put his hometown of Cape Girardeau on the national map.

But it is President Clinton who will call attention to the town when he visits it Friday on the first leg of a two-day, four-state campaign trip.

Forget about politics; it is publicity that counts to local tourism officials.

"We can never fully measure the positive impact that this will have on our community, but we are just delighted," said Mary Miller. She directs the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Ironically, the CVB has done its best to promote itself as Limbaugh's hometown. It has two billboards along Interstate 55 declaring that fact -- one south of St. Louis and another at Blytheville, Ark.

Limbaugh's face also adorns Cape Girardeau's floodwall.

Limbaugh has been a strong critic of Clinton.

But Miller said there is nothing like a presidential visit, with its attending national media, to put a town in the spotlight.

She said her office has put together media packets for those out-of-town reporters who want to know more about the City of Roses.

Miller said Cape Girardeau will draw national attention because it will be the president's first campaign stop after the Democratic National Convention. The convention ends Thursday night in Chicago.

The president, Vice President Al Gore and their wives will attend a rally in Cape Girardeau Friday afternoon that could attract some 20,000 people from throughout the district.

That could provide a boost to the local economy, provided that security moves don't keep customers away from Cape Girardeau businesses, said John Mehner, president of the local Chamber of Commerce.

Mehner said the publicity could benefit Cape Girardeau. But he said that depends on how the national media depict the river city.

Rachel Fayman, Missouri press secretary for the Clinton-Gore campaign, said Clinton is well aware that Cape Girardeau is Limbaugh's hometown.

Fayman said Clinton isn't concerned about speaking in Limbaugh land.

Cape Girardeau County historically has been Republican. County voters favored George Bush over Clinton in 1992 by a nearly 4,000-vote margin.

But Fayman said Clinton wanted to go to "the heart of the Midwest" and Cape Girardeau fit into those plans.

"The president is confident that the people of Cape Girardeau will come out and listen with open minds, and we are confident as his staff that the people will treat him with the respect he deserves as an American president," she said.

Rush Limbaugh's mother, Millie, is solidly Republican like her son.

But she too understands the excitement of the Clinton visit. This will be only the third sitting president to visit Cape Girardeau. The last was Ronald Reagan in 1988.

"I hope nobody does anything ugly," she said.

"My goodness, what a treat to have your children get to see the president of the United States," she said.