HERE ARE THE RULES FOR WINNING THE NEXT MISSOURI ELECTION

Most candidates encountered these days, Democrat or Republican, seem to be asking the same question: how to win next November's election. It's a query posed regularly by those politicians whose electoral success is very much in doubt and which for the most part includes an expanding number of potential governors, treasurers and secretaries of state, many of whom are virtually unknown beyond their hometowns.

I believe part of this political uncertainty stems from the fact that in this new American century we now find ourselves occupying there seems to be more doubt and less assurance that the time-tested issues, policies and techniques that elected Harry Truman in 1940 and Kit Bond in 1972 may no longer be valid and may not have been for a decade or so.

When you get right down to it, the uncertainty that so many families, be they nuclear or non-nuclear, are now facing is almost certainly a reason for the changing attitudes that will impact next Nov. 7. Since our society, whether it be electronic or still electric, has radically changed, it makes sense that the persons who want to play the great American game of politics must adapt to the new rules or face the fate of the likes of Bill Bradley, John McCain and other also-rans.

It follows, then, that if Missouri is in the process of transition -- some might even call it upheaval -- any system that purports to govern wisely must also change.

As for changes that are occurring in most brackets of Missouri society, they are indeed monumental. According to the latest state employment totals, there are no 3 million of us in the statewide work force, a remarkable figure considering that anyone 17 years of age and younger and those 65 and older are not considered in this category. Of this 3 million working stiffs, only 68,000 do not have regular, full- or part-time jobs, another remarkable statistic that is not surprising in an era that has for so long borne the description "affluent."

What is even more challenging is the fact that 70 percent of our state's work force is employed in what can be called the service economy, which includes jobs ranging from computer operators to service station attendants to hamburger fry cooks. There are more Missourians working in medical facilities than automobile assembly plants. More of us work in the state's Wal-Mart stores than in the heavy construction industry. And one-half of us live in suburban regions that are attached to but not a part of core cities.

Despite the rosy job totals that have been a part of our lives for nearly a decade, there is an increasing number within our state that have found the work at which they spend at least 40 hours a week performing does not adequately support them and their families. There seems to be some sort of diabolical correlation between the wage increases the work force receive and the number of price increases they must fund. In other segments of our population the pot of gold that once awaited a worker's retirement has disappeared in a sea of unseen and unprepared circumstances that combine to create an uncertain fate, even an apocalyptic one.

The office seeker in Missouri seldom, if ever, speaks to this constituency, even as its numbers continue to increase, because so few seem to understand the dynamics of today's society. Candidates look upon political office as being a part of a game although, heaven knows, no one has concocted one that even remotely resembles the one being played today. Politics is viewed by those who wish to play as a game of one-upmanship, in which the only purpose is the defeat of the political opposition and not the creation of thoughtful public policies and programs that meet the needs of the vast majority who have absolutely no interest in joining either partisan group. Nothing is more disheartening than to hear some political figure bemoan the lack of credit he has received in defeating his political opponents or thwarting the policies of the opposition, as if this were the legitimate purpose of public service.

Unfortunately for society, that is the real -- and only -- purpose of so many involved in today's political process.

What can candidates do to win public confidence?

First, they must stop thinking of their candidacies as their principal motivation and forget the fantasies that place them on the podium of a January inaugural day. They must understand the society they seek to represent and serve in the future, recognizing that vast economic, sociological, vocational and even racial changes have altered our world far more than is generally realized. Thirdly, they must recognize the politically urgent demands these oftentimes subtle changes have made on our society, which no longer considers the act of voting as an integral part of their responsibility of citizenship and which holds politicians in such low esteem that they barely register on the public's respect screen.

Politicians seeking office in Missouri must develop programs deemed to be vital to the average citizen: better educational opportunities not only for the young but the under-trained adult, better health care for the uninsured, improved transportation services and safer highways, visionary programs to add new work opportunities, determined efforts to preserve the environment and, above all else, a willingness to listen to and then respond to public concerns. (When was the last time an officeseeker asked for your priorities and suggestions for achieving better government?)

We're just beginning a new millennium and while the idea of witnessing it is exciting, there is the haunting reminder that, unless we select wisely and responsibly, our lives and our destinies will be no different than for those who came before us.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of Missouri News and Editorial Service.