Remembering the 25th anniversary of the Clinton-Gore rally in Cape

Liz Lockhart was a journalism teacher at Cape Girardeau Central High School when President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore came via bus to Capaha Park on Aug. 31, 1996.

The two men had come to Cape Girardeau with their wives as they campaigned jointly for a second term in the White House.

"What I recall most was the heat that afternoon, the crush of the big crowd and Central High's marching band," said Lockhart, now broker/owner of Riverbend Realty in Cape Girardeau.

An estimated 30,000 people attended the fenced-in rally, part of a two-day, four-state campaign tour by the Democratic ticket.

"As people poured into the park, the crowd got more compacted. Even for August, it was unseasonably hot. People with small children put them on their shoulders just hoping they could get a breath of air. There was a triage tent with cold water for people who had succumbed to the conditions," Lockhart recalled.

Lockhart, whose two children accompanied her to the event, also remembered people being taken away from Capaha to nearby Southeast Hospital due to the elevated heat index.

People were gathering for hours before the presidential party arrived, she said.

"I got there pretty early because some of my (Central) students who had press credentials were going to be in attendance, and they had to be vetted by the Secret Service," Lockhart said.

"I got to shake Clinton's hand that day -- and (the president) did a lot of handshaking at the park."

Lockhart admitted she doesn't remember anything Clinton or Gore specifically said a quarter of a century ago but recalled the 42nd president's ease at the microphone.

"I recall he was a marvelous speaker with great relatability. Even those who opposed his policies would probably admit [Clinton] was a fine orator."

The state's top elected official at the time, the late Gov. Mel Carnahan -- who would perish in a plane crash before Clinton left office -- was a Democrat and attended that day in Cape Girardeau.

"Missouri was more of a Democrat-friendly state (in 1996)," said Lockhart, currently serving as an elected member of the Cape Girardeau County Democratic Central Committee.

Joining Carnahan, the Clintons and the Gores on stage was 8th District Democratic congressional candidate Emily Firebaugh of Farmington, Missouri. Firebaugh drew 37% of the vote in losing the November election to Republican Jo Ann Emerson. Also present was Democrat Rick Althaus, who would go on to lose to Republican Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau by a nearly 2-1 margin in the race for Missouri Senate, 27th District.

Missouri's Democratic secretary of state, Bekki Cook of Cape Girardeau, acted as master of ceremonies.

Cape Girardeau is not an infrequent stop for presidential hopefuls. The two most recent occupants of the White House before President Biden -- Donald Trump and Barack Obama -- made campaign appearances in the city.

The nation's 40th president, Ronald Reagan, attended an event at the Show Me Center in September 1988.

Lockhart had a ready opinion why candidates for the country's highest office so often put Southeast Missouri on their campaign itineraries.

"I think the reason they come is our good local media here. We have a newspaper plus a large television presence with TV stations serving the tri-state area."