ELECTION 1992: MISSOURI SENATE; BETTY HEARNES VS. PETER KINDER

As I have visited with thousands of voters all year long, one theme resonates louder than any other: The lifetime politicians have failed us. It's time for term limits and for a return to the citizen-legislator our Founding Fathers envisioned. I am the only state senate candidate pledged to term limits and to serving as a citizen-legislator.

The lifetime politicians have failed us

Concerned more with their own perks than with opportunities for our people, our lifetime politicians have sat and talked while opportunities went elsewhere. For more than 10 years, I have worked to make real the bright promise of the Southeast Missouri Regional Port, down on the Cape-Scott County line. As vice-chairman of the Port Board of Directors, I am proud to be associated with the multi-millions of investment dollars, the industries and the opportunities for our people now headed our way.

This is the jobs approach I'll take to Jefferson City. It is a distinctly regional approach to jobs and opportunities for Southeast Missourians. It's an approach that doesn't look jealously where the county line is, but instead says, "What's good for our whole region is good for all of us. Let's get this area growing again, so our talented young people don't have to go elsewhere to find good-paying jobs with benefits."

The lifetime politicians have failed us in education, too

Our lifetime politicians fooled around with lottery money for eight years, before we voters corrected that by earmarking the lottery proceeds for education. Last year, our career politicians put before us a tax increase proposal for education called Proposition B. Still, they failed us by not including in it a foundation formula, and as a result we didn't know where the money was going.

People don't trust the career politicians, and so they voted Proposition B down.

My opponent favors collective bargaining for and unionizing of school teachers. I am opposed to unionizing our schools.

New voice for leadership

My opponent's first vote will be to reelect the existing leadership of the senate, the leadership she is so comfortable with. I will be a strong, new voice and a vote for new senate leadership.

My opponent is a nice lady. She and her husband have launched 19 campaigns in 42 years since the former governor began running for office in 1950. In their fifth decade of living off the taxpayers, the Hearneses have spent their entire adult lives in politics and government, running for reelection.

As a sixth generation Southeast Missourian, I have a varied background since graduating from law school in 1979.

I worked briefly (for 15 months, 1981-82) in government, on the staff of Congressman Bill Emerson in Washington, D.C. Next, I spent four years at Drury Industries as a staff attorney, dealing with legal and financial issues relating to construction and real estate development. In 1987, I made a career change into newspaper publishing, where I have spent the last five and one-half years in the communications business.

I believe this varied background of brief government service followed by responsible private sector positions well prepares me to represent Southeast Missourians in the state senate. In particular, the communications skills I have honed are important to the job of listening to and representing 150,000 people.

If voters give me their public trust and send me as their representative to the senate, I will bring them new leadership for change in Southeast Missouri.