ROTHMAN-SEROT TELLS GROUP IN CAPE THAT CHANGES ARE NEEDED

Geri Rothman-Serot believes 1992 is a pivotal year in setting a new course for our nation's future.

One of her favorite campaign themes is a common thread among many candidates at all levels of government: change.

The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate was in Cape Girardeau Sunday, bringing her appeal for change and attacking her opponent, incumbent Republican Christopher "Kit" Bond.

"This has been a very, very exciting time," Rothman-Serot said of her campaign. "To realize that this year history is going to be made, and for the first time there's going to be a chance for everybody to have a voice in government."

Rothman-Serot said that as she's campaigned throughout the state she's seen fear, more than any other emotion, revealed in the faces of Missouri voters. She said Missourians are concerned about the future of the economy and fear the direction our nation has taken in the past several years.

"My job is to wipe away that fear and explain to them there is a better tomorrow. That's what this election is all about," she said. "It's our responsibility to make sure that happens.

"The only way to make that happen is to vote Democratic from the White House on down to your state and local elections," said Rothman-Serot, of St. Louis.

Rothman-Serot made her comments to a group of about 25 people gathered to meet her at the Cape Girardeau headquarters of the Clinton-Gore presidential campaign.

She encouraged those in attendance to tell their family, friends and others "how important this election is."

"Any time you talk about change, it's scary," Rothman-Serot said. "There's been a lot of talk about this being the `Year of the Women.' But that really isn't the issue; the real issue is that men and women realize enough is enough.

"We're not necessarily voting for women, we're voting for change, and what bigger change is there than a woman in the Senate, where there are only two now."

Rothman-Serot criticized her opponent as a "rubber stamp" for President George Bush and accused him of lying in his campaign ads.

"I'm horrified at what's going on with Kit Bond right now," she said. "When Republicans get desperate, they get dangerous, and they begin telling lies.

"Kit Bond is lying through his teeth right now, and he knows it."

Rothman-Serot referred to ads that claim that as a member of the St. Louis County Council she supported efforts by a landfill operator to change regulations rather than be forced to comply with existing ones.

She said the landfill in question now is subject to even more stringent regulations than before regulations she supported.

"I have a wonderful environmental record to stand on," the candidate said. "I have such a good record that I don't have to criticize others' environmental records. All you have to do is look at Kit Bond's voting record and see where he stands."

Rothman-Serot also criticized Bond's ads that claim he's working to bring foreign-aid dollars "back home" to the United States. But, she said, the Republican has favored every foreign aid budget appropriation that's come before the Senate

She said there's a "180-degree difference" between her and Bond on most issues, including abortion, education funding, unions and collective bargaining, and the environment.