Former Presidential candidate, former Tennessee Senator and actor Fred Thompson stopped in Joplin on Wednesday to stump and raise money for incumbent Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder's campaign for re-election.
Thompson said he came to Joplin to highlight the importance of state and local races in the upcoming election on Nov. 4.
"More and more the really significant issues facing our country are going to be decided at the state and local level of government," Thompson said. "We've got a system of government built on the concept of federalism. Not all the solutions come out of Washington D.C. That means we need good strong people, especially at the state level, providing the leadership for the people. That's what Peter represents and I'm proud to be here today and hopefully raise a few coins for the cause."
Thompson and Kinder answered questions from the media for about 15 minutes before retreating into a private fundraiser with area business leaders and Republican party leaders at Granny Schaffer's Restaurant on North Range Line Road in Joplin.
Kinder is running against Democrat Sam Page and Libertarian Teddy Fleck.
Kinder spoke for a few minutes and talked about the contrasts between him and Page before turning the floor over to Thompson.
"In my race, and I'll just speak briefly before you get to hear from the man you came to hear, I'm running against a St. Louis physician who is a St. Louis liberal," Kinder said. "Where I am A-plus rated by the National Rifle Association and a life-member of the NRA, he gets an F from the NRA for his contempt for your Second Amendment rights."
Kinder said he and Page differ on more personal issues as well.
"Where I'm a pro-life, career lawmaker and lieutenant governor with the Missouri Right to Life award for Defender of Life award on my wall for fighting the partial-birth abortion battle, he is pro-choice on that issue," Kinder said. "He is for higher taxes and has said so as recently as a joint appearance he and I had in front of editors and publishers last Friday morning in Columbia. I could go on and on.
"He also sponsored a bill making it mandatory that every sixth grader would be tested and given the HPV, or human papilloma virus vaccine, assuming that all those sixth graders are going to be sexually active, without parental consent. That is an invasion, in my judgment, of parental rights that we should not tolerate in our great state of Missouri.
"The issue contrasts in my race are significant. I look forward to taking my case to the people across this great state and I look forward to returning many times to this beautiful part of the state."
After the event at Granny Shaffer's, Kinder appeared at Cardinal Scale in Webb City to present that company with an award as Missouri Exporter of the Year.
