Independent campaigning as ‘smart,’ ‘safe’ choice for U.S. Senate

CEDAR RAPIDS - Rick Stewart is no stranger to unexpected success, so winning election to the U.S. Senate may not be beyond the realm of possibilities.

A former small-town police officer and long-haul truck driver, Stewart struck gold when he helped found Frontier Cooperative Herbs, which was intended to be 'a hippie commune to support three or four families.” When he left after 24 years, Frontier had 300 employees and $40 million in sales.

During the past 14 years, Stewart, 62, of Cedar Rapids has traveled and studied abroad. It was while hiking the Appalachian Trail that he got to thinking about politics and that led to running for the Senate.

'I had a lot of alone time ... just your thoughts and they roll around inside you ... (and) I spent a lot of time basically being angry at politicians,” Stewart said.

Stewart, a Coe College graduate who earned an MBA at the University of Chicago, said he has been tempted by political office before, 'but I'm not temperamentally inclined to go out and lie.”

'I don't need the job. I don't need the money. I don't need the aggravation,” he said. 'But I know one thing for sure: I would be a really good (politician).”

So instead of bicycling the length of the Mississippi River Trail as he had planned this summer, Stewart launched an independent bid for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Tom Harkin.

'We've had 30 years of Harkin's vote canceling (Republican Sen. Chuck) Grassley's except on the two things they both love - war and ag subsidies,” Stewart said. 'I'm against both of those.”

If Iowans elect someone from either the far left - Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley - or the far right - Republican State Sen. Joni Ernst, Stewart said 'we're going to get nothing, which is what we've had for the past 30 years, and 50 percent of the Iowans are going to be really unhappy.”

Stewart, who doesn't plan to run television ads or solicit campaign contributions, is campaigning by biking around Iowa, stopping in cafes and bars to learn what's on voters' mind.

'Sometimes the conversation takes over the café,” he said. 'Sometimes it's just me and the waitress.

Iowans, Stewart said, are clearly unhappy.

'People are in a hatred mode,” he said. 'The first thing out of their mouths is ‘I don't like him' or ‘I don't like her.' There is a visceral hatred.”

Stewart admits to having a 'loud mouth and big ideas,” but doesn't think people will hate him.

Stewart describes himself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal with a strong libertarian streak. The government, he said, ought to 'leave people alone a little bit and quit throwing us in jail because we're not doing what they want us to do.”

However, Stewart and libertarians part ways when he talks about redistributing wealth through a 'solidarity tax” that essentially would subsidize people working in low-wage jobs so a two-earner family would have an annual income of about $48,000.

'That's enough to pay your rent, pay for food, pay for clothing, transportation, buy your own health insurance and you should still have some money left over to buy at least a thin slice of the American Dream,” Stewart said. 'You can't get there from where we are unless you redistribute some income.”

Stewart wants to limit U.S. involvement in foreign affairs and concentrate instead on fixing Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

When voters look at where he stands on the issues, Stewart believes they'll agree he's 'a smart choice for Iowa.”

'I may not be the first thing (voters) think of,” he said, 'but it's a lot safer to vote for me than either of those others.”

For more on Stewart, visit www.rickstewart.com.