Though far from being considered a state with a large number of electoral votes to be claimed this November, Missouri with just 11 is getting the star treatment.

Seen as a must-win state, Republican and Democratic candidates are clamoring to spend time here, literally reaching out to voters in an attempt to claim a state that some consider up for grabs.

Southeast Missouri in recent weeks has seen visits by Barbara Bush, Tipper Gore and Vice President Dan Quayle.

Today, the first and probably most watched of the three scheduled presidential debates will take place in St. Louis.

Why the fierce push to claim the Show Me State?

"Missouri is perceived as being a very competitive state this year," said Rick Althaus, a professor of political science at Southeast Missouri State University and chairman of the Cape Girardeau County Democratic Central Committee.

"Our 11 electoral votes put us at the top of the second tier of states" in the race to claim enough electoral votes to secure the presidency, he said. "It's still a relatively important state with respect to size."

President Bush won Missouri in 1988 by a relatively small margin. "And both campaigns know that," Althaus said. "That's why they're giving so much attention to it now."

Ken Richardson, a member of the Cape Girardeau County Republican Central Committee and Republican chairman of the 158th Legislative district, said Missouri is traditionally seen as representative of the nation, and not a state where voters are easily swayed.

"It requires more work to move the electorate (in Missouri) one percentage point in either direction," said Richardson, who holds a degree in political science from Southeast.

Missouri especially St. Louis has been a major campaign stop by both camps this year. The first Clinton/Gore bus tour, which kicked off just after the Democratic National Convention, ended in St. Louis.

And in the past two weeks, St. Louis has been the destination of Bush, Bill Clinton, Marilyn Quayle and others.

Both camps feel Missouri is a vital state, and both feel it could go either way, so the frantic push to win voters here comes as no surprise, Althaus said.

The 6 p.m. debate will take place at Washington University and include Bush, Clinton and independent candidate Ross Perot. The Clinton campaign hopes the debate will solidify a Democratic choice in the minds of still-undecided voters, while the Bush campaign hopes the debate will result in a significant change in polls that suggest he's lagging behind.

Newsweek magazine reported Saturday that its weekly survey, taken Thursday and Friday, found Clinton leading with 44 percent, to 35 percent for Bush and 12 percent for Perot. That was virtually unchanged from the previous week's 44-36-14 percent figures.

Richardson said Bush will need to be forceful on the issues and "extremely powerful in his language" during the debate to make a difference in the polls.

"He may need to mix government and politics and make some kind of presidential announcement. It will make Clinton and Perot seem insignificant even though they're sharing the same stage," he said.

Richardson said Bush needs to "operate outside the rules of traditional debate.

"If he follows the normal path and tries to be a gentleman, it's not going to work. It's got to be dramatic."

Althaus said the debate is one of the last opportunities for Bush to gain support before Nov. 3.

"The Clinton advisers know that what (Clinton) has to do is avoid making a major mistake, and the Bush advisers know that's one of the few hopes they have," he said.

And then there is the added wrinkle of Perot.

"His followers are taking him very seriously, but as a political scientist I see only a limited role for him to play," Althaus said. "A vote for Perot is really a vote for some kind of change in the status quo. So it is a vote for Clinton."

Historically, debates among presidential candidates are a way voters who are leaning toward a candidate solidify their decision, he said.

"Rather than making up the minds of the voters, most of the time their main function is to firm up support in the minds of voters who are leaning in a certain direction," he said.