10/18/00 9:45 a.m.
Missouri's Piping Plover
The issue of the election year…and Gore is AWOL.

By Michael Catanzaro, a reporter for Robert Novak

ew political pundits could have predicted that endangered species would decide which presidential candidate carries Missouri this year. But thanks to Bill Clinton's veto of a $23.6 billion appropriations bill, the piping plover, the least tern, and the pallid sturgeon may become Texas Gov. George W. Bush's best friends.

Clinton's veto on October 7 was wildly unpopular in the state and augurs poorly for Vice President Al Gore in November. "This issue is the script of how Al Gore will lose Missouri," said a GOP source. The veto stems from a decision in July by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ordering the Army Corps of Engineers to manipulate the Missouri's water levels to save three endangered species. In effect, the Corps proposed a plan that would decrease water flow each summer and then increase it every third spring.

Sen. Kit Bond (R., Mo.) responded recently by inserting language into the Energy and Water appropriations bill blocking the Corps from implementing the plan for one year. Bond's effort cut across partisan lines: Nearly ever member of the Missouri congressional delegation supported him, including House minority leader Dick Gephardt.

It's not hard to understand why. Barge owners bitterly complained that low water flow could stop barge traffic for six weeks at a time, decimating river commerce. The Missouri Farm Bureau said artificial increases would induce rampant flooding, already a serious and frequent problem along the banks of the river. (Note: the Army Corps of Engineers tried unsuccessfully to prevent Missourians from rebuilding levees after the disastrous 1993 flood).

Farmers, an important constituency in the state, are unequivocally ticked at Gore. "The Clinton-Gore Administration is continuing to ignore the pleas of Missourians not to threaten their lives and property with this ill-conceived plan," said Charles Kruse, president of the Missouri Farm Bureau. "I think this gives our members and the people of Missouri a stark choice in November."

The Democratic mayors of St. Louis and Kansas City both urged Clinton to rescind the order. Even the Missouri Department of Natural Resources argued that the ebb-and-flow plan "will produce meager, if any gains for the (endangered) species."

The issue has serious implications for a very competitive open seat in the House. The Missouri River cuts through the 6th congressional district, where state senator Sam Graves is battling former Democratic state senator Steve Danner. The seat, now held by Danner's mother, Rep. Pat Danner, is prime pickup territory for Republicans.

The tragic death yesterday of Democratic governor Mel Carnahan effectively means Republican senator John Ashcroft will be reelected. The only possibility for a new challenger to enter the race will be through a write-in campaign, which is highly unlikely. Carnahan's name will remain on the ballot Nov. 7.

Congressional leaders tried to squeeze as much political mileage from the issue as they could. The House voted last week 315 to 98 to override Clinton's veto, as all Missouri House members, with the exception of Democratic representative Karen McCarthy, voted in favor of the override. Republicans senators, however, failed to garner the necessary two-thirds, and the override languished in the Senate.

To appease Clinton, negotiators were forced to strip the Bond language from the bill, essentially allowing the Corps to begin planning the timing and implementation of the plan. Bond, meanwhile, has campaigned across the state to remind voters of the Clinton-Gore environmental agenda for Missouri.

The Farm Bureau launched a $10,000, three-day radio ad campaign attacking Gore for his failure to stop it. "The White House is threatening to veto legislation designed to prevent flooding on the Missouri River," according to one ad. "Don't they know the damage flooding does to families, communities, jobs, and property?"

Over the last several weeks, the momentum has clearly been with Bush in Missouri, and this issue has undoubtedly been a key reason behind it. Dick Cheney, campaigning in the state last week, asked, "I wonder where Al Gore is on this issue?"

Gore, a self-described environmental guru, has been understandably quiet about endorsing the administration's position. When asked by reporters where the Vice President stood, a spokesman replied: "Al Gore stands by the administration's position on this issue to protect the environment." Not exactly strong stuff.

Why would Clinton-Gore take such a huge political risk? Maybe they are pandering to the national environmental constituency, which frequently chastises Gore for straying from radical green orthodoxy. Whatever the reason, Gore's electoral fate in the Show Me State may have been sealed by a piping plover.