LOCAL WOMAN AMONG DEMOCRATIC DELEGATES; VICKI ABERNATHY WILL ATTEND CHICAGO CONVENTION IN AUGUST

JACKSON -- The last time the Democrats headed to Chicago, Gene McCarthy and Hubert H. Humphrey were slugging it out for the nomination, and protesters and police were slugging it out -- literally -- on the streets.

Vicki Litzelfelner Abernathy hopes this year's convention will be calmer than the 1968 gathering.

Abernathy, a 48-year-old Jackson native, will represent the state's Democrats as an at-large delegate in next month's convention.

"I come from a long line of Democrats," she said. Her father, Jack, and uncle, John, have long been active in the party and in local development projects.

Attending the convention, she said, is "a dream come true."

"Some people want to climb Mount Everest or do the triathlon or go to the Olympics," she said. "I've always been interested in watching the convention, ever since I was little. I think the ultimate would be to get up there and say, Mr., or Madame, Chairman, the Show Me State would like to nominate Bill Clinton!"

The issues Abernathy is most interested in are health care, including saving Medicare; restoring student loan funding; supporting organized labor and welfare reform.

"My personal view is that we do need to look at the welfare issue," she said. Determining which long-time recipients could be cut from the rolls "could immediately cut back a lot" of spending, Abernathy said.

"I'm not against welfare as a whole," she added. "I think we all go through life and have a low for whatever reason. We all need help. That's one of the great things about the United States, that help is available. But I also think the program has been abused terrifically."

Abernathy became eligible for Medicare after she was deemed disabled because of diabetes and cancer-related health problems.

"I'm a Baby Boomer, and we are approaching that age where health care is very important," she said. "We also have a lot of older people and they are terrified that they're going to lose their benefits."

She said she may decide to run for office one day herself, but she's still "scoping it out."

Abernathy is the only delegate from Cape Girardeau County. Delegates representing the 8th Congressional District are Sandy Allison of Rolla, Sharon Beardon of Piedmont, Patt Sharp of Kennett, Ronald Yersak of Dexter, Ruth Ann Culton of Bonne Terre, David A. Dolan of Sikeston, and Phyllis Robertson of Qulin.

A former flight attendant for Braniff Airlines, Abernathy often flew on special Democratic charter flights.

"I had Lady Bird Johnson on my flights a couple of times," she said. "They had Republican flights, too. I saw Mrs. Bush a couple of times, too."

Abernathy's husband, John, is a quality control manager at Lee Rowan. The couple's daughter, Amanda, just graduated from Jackson High School and will enter the University of Kentucky in the fall.