KINDER, LICHTENEGGER TO ATTEND GOP EVENT

State Sen. Peter Kinder admits he was just "a gawker" when he attended the National Republican Convention in Kansas City, Mo., in 1976. At the time, he was an enthusiastic college student who supported Ronald Reagan for president.

Twenty-four years later, the Cape Girardeau lawmaker is headed back to the party's political convention, this time as an at-large delegate and a member of the GOP platform committee.

Donna Lichtenegger of Jackson also is a delegate to the convention. The two are among four delegates and three alternates from the 8th Congressional District who will be attending as members of the 80-member Missouri delegation.

Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson recently appointed Kinder to co-chair the government reform subcommittee with state Rep. JoAnn Davidson, speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Kinder is one of 107 members on the party's platform committee. The committee develops the party's platform that spells out the GOP's stand on issues.

The 2000 GOP convention will be held in Philadelphia, Pa. The convention will kick off with state delegation parties Sunday. The convention itself kicks off Monday and runs through Thursday.

For Kinder and other members of the platform committee, the work begins early. Kinder is scheduled to be in Philadelphia today to begin fine tuning the platform document.

Kinder said drafting a party platform is a lot like selecting a vice president. "The first rule is to do no harm." But he said the platform does tell voters where the party stands.

Presidential candidate and soon-to-be GOP nominee George Bush and his campaign staff are running the show. "The Bush people are in control of the convention," said Kinder, who has been involved in the Bush campaign in Missouri.

This will be Lichtenegger's second convention and her first as a voting delegate. The Jackson Republican attended the 1996 convention as an alternate.

Lichtenegger is excited about the convention. "It is such an honor. It is very hard to become a delegate or an alternate," she said.

The Missouri delegation will be staying at Cherry Hill, N.J., which is six miles from the Philadelphia convention center where the convention will be held.

Delegates and alternates must pay their own way, although many of the meals will be free, courtesy of corporations.

Lichtenegger said she and other delegates will each spend at least $2,000 to attend the convention. That includes the cost of air fare and hotel rooms. Members of the Missouri delegation are paying $129 a night for hotel rooms.

Lichtenegger said delegates have been informed that security will be tight at the convention. "They are very worried about riots," she said.

Lichtenegger said she plans to collect political buttons at the convention. "I have a really good button collection so I will be getting buttons to add to that," she said.

GOP DELEGATES

Republican Convention delegates and alternates from the 8th Congressional District:

Delegates:

Peter Kinder, Cape Girardeau.

Donna Lichtenegger, Jackson, Mo.

Matthew Henson, Poplar Bluff, Mo.

Rudy Munro, Cuba, Mo.

Alternates:

Joe Pondrom, Sullivan, Mo.

Dorothy Burford, Doniphan, Mo.

Scott Faughn, Poplar Bluff, Mo.