CHENEY'S BEEN HERE ONCE BEFORE

Thursday's political rally at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport didn't mark Republican vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney's first time in town.

In June 1993, he spoke at a $50-per-plate breakfast at the Drury Lodge, blasting President Bill Clinton.

The event benefited the Missouri Futures Fund of the Republican Party.

Cheney railed against Clinton's tax and defense policies at the breakfast.

"It's hard to conclude that this party got elected by honestly portraying what their programs would be," he said then.

Cheney had been newly relieved of his duties as defense secretary under President George Bush.

On Thursday, he said that he wants to rebuild the military, repair the Medicare system and provide "the kind of government we can be proud of once again."