2nd District: 'Anti-politician' Gettemy calls for entreprenuerial government

Meet Rob Gettemy, the anti-politician.

“I'm not a politician,” Gettemy, one of four Republicans seeking his party's nomination in Iowa's 2

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District, frequently mentions in conversation and in his stump speech.

“Truth is, I expect to be disgusted by the job,” Gettemy, the owner of a Christian t-shirt company told a Coralville lunch hour audience recently. “It's not in my DNA to be in Washington. If elected, I will dislike this job unlike anything I've ever done.”

That prompts Coralville City Councilman Bill Hoeft, a former social studies teacher, to say Gettemy would make a terrible politician.

“And I mean that as a compliment,” he says as a Coralville lunch hour meet-and-greet breaks up.

So why is Gettemy working so hard to win the June 8 Republican primary for a shot to challenge U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack? And why has Gettemy put $100,000 of his own money into the race?

 “There comes a time,” Gettemy says, and then talks about a 2009 trip he made to Washington with his father to participate in Tea Party rallies.

“We marched on our Capitol to remind our government that we are not here to serve government,” Gettemy says. “We were there to limit government. Where else but in America do people march on their Capitol demanding government do less?”

Many voters share his concern that government that has grown too big and too intrusive.

“They have a sense that something is wrong, a sense that we're disconnected from what made America great,” Gettemy says.

That presents small government conservatives like Gettemy an opening to change the course of Congress.

“2010 is our chance to draw a line in the sand,” he says. “If we don't do it this year we may not get another chance. The wind is at our back, but it's not a conservative wind. It's an ill wind.”

Voters can't expect better results if they keep sending politicians to Congress, Gettemy says.

“If we keep sending people who covet the job we'll never solve the problems,” Gettemy says. “The problems are too tough, too hard to solve if you want to keep the job. If your identity is tied to the job, you'll never face the tough issues. The tough issues are career-enders for politicians.”

That doesn't sound like a politician to Linda Bergerson of Cedar Rapids, who's wearing an “It's OK to be Christian” t-shirt. “He's a breath of fresh air.

Larry Pacha of Oxford is convinced Gettemy “isn't running because he wants the job, but because he wants to make a difference.”

Gettemy hasn't done any polling but thinks he's making headway.

“I have a sense that I'm winning about half of the undecideds,” Gettemy says. “I think that's pretty good in a four-way race.”

He believes he'll be the best candidate against Loebsack in the fall. Gettemy says Loebsack, a former political science professor, practices what he preaches: government.

“When he sees a problem, he thinks more government,” Gettemy says. “When I see a problem, I think entrepreneurship, innovation, personal responsibility.”

Conservatives, he says, need to be “patient, persistent and push back incrementally” even if that means getting labeled the “party of no.”

“When we argue with Democrats on how the federal government can do things better, we've lost,” Gettemy says. “The question isn't whether Washington can solve the problem, but whether Washington should be involved.”

Name: Rob Gettemy

Age: 45

City of Residence: Marion

Political Party: Republican

Education: bachelor's in economics from UNI, MBA from Drake University

Occupation: Owner of 1M4JC; teaches entrepreneurship at University of Iowa

Related Experience: vice president of Parsons Technology, started three businesses

Family: Wife, Tracy, two sons

Contact:

www.gettemyforthepeople.org; PO Box 1000, Marion, Iowa 52302; (319) 431-7989