Dexter, Mo. ? Former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole says the U.S. Senate race in Missouri is important, because one vote can mean a lot in Washington.

“This is a big one,” Dole said Saturday during a luncheon to raise money for Republican Jim Talent in his race against Democratic Sen. Jean Carnahan. “Think of all the bills that have passed the House and they are stacked outside the Senate door and they aren’t going to get any action.”

Dole listed a number of key national issues from health care to homeland security that are stalled in the U.S. Senate, which has 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans and one independent.

“Here we are on the verge of who knows what with Saddam Hussein, and we can’t get homeland security passed in the U.S. Senate,” Dole said.

“I think most people here support President Bush,” Dole told the crowd of 200. “So why don’t you give President Bush a chance in the U.S. Senate to get his programs through? Keep the majority in the House and give him a majority in the Senate and then see what happens.”

Dole also is to be the featured speaker at a fund-raising breakfast Monday for Adam Taff, the Republican nominee for the U.S. House from the 3rd Congressional District.

Taff is running against Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore, who is seeking election to a third term from the northeast Kansas district, which includes the eastern half of Lawrence and the Kansas City metropolitan area.