I wouldn't worry to much about Gephardts influnance here in the state he was born in. Hell, he only shows up when he sends some highway money to his district to gloat about what he's done. The hillbillies in the Ozarks or farmers in the corn belt aren't going to vote for him.
Alot of defense work which is heavily unionized is done here in the St. Louis area. Union support in the rank-and-file will be tempered by the fact that John Kerry voted against the F-15, Apache, and B1-B. These jobs are important to this area.
Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire, and West Virginia had closer races in 2000 than Missouri. Thats where my conceern is.