KINDER TELLS GOP GATHERING THEY'VE COME A LONG WAY

Although Republicans in Missouri did not win as much as they had hoped in elections last November, party supporters in Cape Girardeau County found much to celebrate at the 31st annual Lincoln Day dinner on Saturday.

About 350 attended the dinner, sponsored by the Cape Girardeau County Republican Womens' Club.

Looking back at the political landscape in Southeast Missouri 21 years ago as the late Congressman Bill Emerson's first campaign manager, state senate president pro tem Peter Kinder said it is remarkable to see how many Republicans are office holders in the region.

State Rep. Jason Crowell noted that Kinder is the first Republican to take charge of the Missouri Senate since 1948.

Republican speakers thanked voters for making those achievements possible.

"I wanted to thank you for your votes," said former U.S. congressman Jim Talent, who narrowly lost the race for governor. "And if you haven't voted, the polls are still open in St. Louis."

Talent's reference to a circuit judge extending polling deadlines in St. Louis was picked up by Kinder. With former Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft as new U.S. attorney general, Kinder stated that appointments of new federal attorneys for the state would likely lead to investigations of last year's voting irregularities in St. Louis.

A new vision

Kinder promised to look into excesses in the state senate. A budget of $12 million for the senate's 34 members is too high, he said. The process of bringing in outside analysts to shrink the budget has already started, and Kinder expects a cut of 10 percent this year.

More broadly, Kinder told the partisan crowd he wants to change the principles on which the senate operates. The old guiding principle was power how close a politician was to the speaker, he said.

"It wasn't a question of what's right," Kinder said.

Kinder named individual freedom, personal responsibility, and family empowerment among the ideals he desires to instill as he leads the senate.

He cited a victory this past week for his bill on limiting lawsuits by municipalities and the state against gun manufacturers. He had proposed the bill for several years, but it had never made it to the senate floor for a vote.

"This week it won 22 to 11, and now goes on to the House where it has even more lopsided support," Kinder said.

He likened the bill to his legislation for handling the state's tobacco settlement money both keep trial lawyers from taking money they didn't earn.

Also at the dinner, the Pachyderm Club of Southeast Missouri presented the Tuff Tusk Award to Dr. Melvin Kasten, while state Rep. David Schwab of Jackson, Mo., won the Bill Emerson award for public service.