Democrats target GOP at Cape picnic

Republican leaders in Washington, D.C., and Jefferson City came under fire Saturday for the ballooning federal debt, unclear war aims and indifference to the plight of working people, the poor and disabled during a Democratic Party picnic in County Park.

More than 100 people attended the "Had Enough?" rally, listening to candidates seeking seats in the Missouri House, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate.

"I have seen more and more people who really have had enough," said Brenda Woemmel, chairwoman of the Cape Girardeau County Democratic Central Committee. "They feel they are not being treated right, and they are ready for a change."

U.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill won the biggest round of applause, receiving a standing ovation as she arrived. McCaskill is seeking to oust U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., who is seeking his first full term in the Senate.

McCaskill reminded the party faithful of her rural Missouri roots and noted that when she was young, people would remark about a gathering storm that "it smells like rain."

"Well, it smells like change in Missouri," she said.

McCaskill chided Talent for attempting to distance himself from President Bush in his ads, noting that in 2002 Talent featured Bush in several broadcast ads. Talent has voted with Bush on 94 percent of Senate votes, she said.

"He agrees with President Bush more than I agree with my husband," she said.

The ads from Talent, she said, are distorting her positions on numerous issues. On immigration, she said she was opposed to amnesty for illegal immigrants and favors tough enforcement actions against employers who hire illegals.

On the military, McCaskill said she wants a strong, flexible armed force. The war in Iraq, she said, has allowed Iran "to become the biggest bully in the Middle East."

And covert efforts to fight terrorism should not undermine constitutional protections.

McCaskill closed with an allusion to the huge deficits under Bush that have sent the national debt soaring. To anyone who says "I am a Republican because I am a fiscal conservative," McCaskill said Democrats should reply: "Well, how's that working out for you?"

Other Democrats who took a turn at the microphone included Veronica Hambacker, candidate in the 8th Congressional District; Matt Hill, candidate in the 158th Missouri House District; Boyce Wooley, candidate in the 159th District; Steve Hodges, candidate in the 161st District; and Larry Tetley, candidate in the 160th District.

Hambacker told the gathering that she is struggling in an uphill battle to unseat five-term incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson. Hambacker told of her career as a teacher and her life growing up on a Ozark farm before attacking Emerson.

The incumbent has voted with President Bush 91 percent of the time, she said, including votes that gave tax breaks to oil companies as they were making record profits and that cut college student aid.

"They have made it almost impossible for poor and middle-class kids to go to college without going into the military," she said.

The legislative candidates focused on cuts to Medicaid and the effects of the cuts on children and the disabled.

Wooley noted that lawmakers have increased their daily expense allowance while pushing people off Medicaid. Republicans have rejected a call for a special legislative session to restore Medicaid coverage to 3,000 disabled adults who had to choose between working in a sheltered workshop or having medical coverage.

"They should be embarrassed, they should be ashamed of what they have done," said Wooley, who is seeking to unseat first-term incumbent Rep. Billy Pat Wright.

Hill, who wants to unseat first-term incumbent state Rep. Nathan Cooper, said Republican policies have been aimed at taking away benefits from working families and then making it difficult for them to vote.

"You have to help me bring things back to reason," he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126