CARNAHAN TAKES ISSUE WITH SCHOEMEHL CALLING HIM `REDNECK'

The top two Democratic candidates for governor are feuding over the intent of remarks made on a St. Louis radio talk show Thursday morning.

In an interview on WGNU Radio, St. Louis Mayor Vince Schoemehl referred to Lt. Gov. Mel Carnahan as "some redneck from Rolla." The statement prompted Carnahan to call a press conference later in the day in downtown St. Louis to chastise the mayor.

Carnahan and his campaign staffers suggested the remark was typical of Schoemehl - who is known for occasional outbursts that are often followed up with apologies - and contended that it reflects his real feelings about people in rural Missouri.

Schoemehl and his staff countered that Carnahan overreacted to the comments. They contend Carnahan's effort to use the comment to portray the mayor as one who is sympathetic only to urban problems is off base, and indicates Carnahan has no better issues to talk about.

By coincidence, on Friday morning Schomehl had a previously scheduled interview on KUMR Radio in Rolla, Carnahan's hometown.

In the interview, Schoemehl said he wanted to apologize if his remark offended anybody, but the comment was just part of politics. "I'm not hurling insults at people. Mel Carnahan has been going around the state of Missouri calling me a city slicker and a big city mayor and everything but a cat burglar," said Schoemehl.

"I think, frankly, he just overreacted to the whole situation."

At his press conference Thursday afternoon, Carnahan described Schoemehl's comments as "another one of his uncontrolled, ill-tempered outbursts.

"I find those words from Vince Schoemehl - more important, that kind of thinking from Vince Schoemehl - deeply offensive. They're offensive to me, and I think they're offensive to every decent, thinking person in Missouri. And I call on Vince Schoemel to apologize to me, and to the people of Missouri, for insulting all of us."

Catherine Behan, press secretary for the Schoemehl campaign, said it is important to understand the context of the show where the mayor made the comment. The redneck reference was made on the "Onion Horton Show," which she described as "a kind of rough and tumble show."

Schoemehl made the remark in responding to a listener's question about the poor condition of a city park. He blamed cuts in federal aid and black politicians who had worked against a sales tax increase.

Some black politicians "want to play the black voters as fools" and blame everything that happens in the city on him, Schoemehl said. "And then, they are going to try to get them to vote for some redneck from Rolla. Well, if the voters in north St. Louis are dumb enough to do that, let them go ahead and do that."

The mayor's remark was a reference to the recent endorsement of Carnahan by U.S. Rep. William Clay of St. Louis, the city's most prominent black politician.

Behan said Schoemehl was making the point that black voters in the city should keep in mind that they don't need to always follow the black leadership in making decisions on elections.

"Mel obviously doesn't have anything else to talk about," said Behan. "The fact is Vince has a lot more to talk about on issues from things like crime to workers compensation to education.

"Vince probably used the wrong words. What he should have called him was thin-skinned."

Roy Temple, political director for Carnahan, said Schoemehl's comments fit in with his consistent pattern as mayor: "If you disagree with him, he calls you names."

Said Temple: "I don't think someone prone to these outbursts is what Missouri is looking for in a governor. We're not going to be able to move this state toward constructive change by pitting one region of the state against the other."

Temple recalled that one time when he was having trouble reaching an agreement with the St. Louis police pension board, Schoemehl called them "cheap bastards and pigs."

Temple provided faxed copies of St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorials criticizing Schoemehl for previous instances of name calling or use of offensive language. He also provided the copy of an article and editorial response from the Post in 1990, when Illinois Republican Senate candidate Lynn Martin referred to southern Illinoisans as rednecks.

Temple said he believes the redneck comment will hurt Schoemehl and the response he has been hearing has been one of shock. "People are shocked at this kind of behavior," he contended.

"I think it is going to hurt him pretty bad. On one hand he says he understands rural Missouri, but now we find out what he really thinks of people who are from rural Missouri," said Temple.

He described the lieutenant governor as "extremely offended, but not altogether surprised" by the comment.

Temple secured signatures from five elected officials around the state on a letter Friday afternoon to Schoemehl, which was distributed along with a press release.

The letter, signed "Awaiting your apology," came from Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett; Rep. Nolan McNeill, D-Cassville; Sen. Harry Wiggins, D-Kansas City; Rep. Jerry McBride, D-Rolla; and Mayor John Yancey of Hannibal.

The letter called on Schoemehl to apologize and said they were "deeply disturbed" the way the mayor had insulted all Missourians.

"With our combined public service experience of many years we know how difficult it is to lead toward constructive change in a state with such diversity. Such constructive change can only occur when we bring people of varying backgrounds together. Nothing will ever be accomplished by dividing people further," the letter stated.

"The incident especially disturbs us because you seem unable to comprehend why it is so offensive to Missourians. By using the term `redneck' to describe the second highest elected official in our state, you have questioned the judgment of the 1,054,037 voters who elected Mel Carnahan to this position."

Schoemehl staffers have complained that Carnahan has been equally insulting by referring to him as "a big city mayor" to infer a disregard for rural Missouri.

"I don't think you can put the comments in the same category," said Thomason. "Is he not a big city mayor? I don't see anything inflammatory about calling him a big city mayor; however, I do take offense to being called a redneck."

Asked to define the term redneck, Thomason said the common usage for the word in his area is "a dumb, bigoted, uneducated country person.

"In the Bootheel, that's what it means," he said.

"I think his comment most graphically points out the low regard the mayor has for everybody that lives outside of I-270," said Thomason. "My concern about Mayor Schoemehl has always been that his focus is directed towards urban Missouri. His comment seems to confirm my perception.

"I would like to think that the mayor got caught up in rhetoric," Thomason said. "We've all made gross generalizations that we didn't think through. Surely the mayor doesn't consider Missourians outside our two urban areas to be as backwards as he indicated."

Temple said the inference is clear to many people that Schoemehl "considers anyone not from St. Louis a redneck. It shows an attitude on the part of Mayor Schoemehl ... he will have a hard time convincing everyone in outstate Missouri that is not the kind of attitude he has about everyone."

Behan argued that Carnahan's frequent reference to Schoemehl as a "big city mayor" is equally divisive to the public. "What's the difference?" asked Behan.

She said the term is used "as though somebody from an urban area could not have leadership skills in outstate Missouri. The fact he (Carnahan) got upset about it shows how thin-skinned he is.

"Our issues in this campaign are sharply defined and backed up by facts," said Behan. "Compare that to redneck from Rolla."