Candidate for Congress makes fair stop

(Photo by Randy M. Cauthron) Candidate for Congress Rob Hubler talks with Bernard Grodahl of Spirit Lake near the Clay County Democrats booth during Day 4 of the Clay County Fair. Hubler is running against incumbent Steve King on Nov. 4. [Order this photo]

Congress "doesn't look at the problems, they don't answer the problems," according to Rob Hubler, the Democratic nominee who will challenge U.S. Rep. Steve King for the 5th District seat serving western Iowa in Congress.

Hubler made his remarks Tuesday morning during a visit to the Clay County Democrats booth on the Clay County Fairgrounds.

The candidate and retired minister grew up in Council Bluffs and graduated from high school there.

"I went across the river to Omaha and worked for the U.P. railroad," he said. "Then I volunteered and joined the Navy in 1962 and I served seven years in the Navy during the Vietnam war. I came back to Iowa after that and graduated from Parsons College over in Fairfield, Iowa and went to work with two great Iowans, Dick Clark and Tom Harkin, in their campaigns for the the U.S. House (for Harkin) and for Senate (Clark)."

Clark gained election to the U.S. Senate in 1972 and kept Hubler on a liaison between Washington and Iowa. Hubler remained a political consultant until 1989.

"As my mother put it, I saw the light and went back to the University of Dubuque for the theology school and became a Presbyterian minister," Hubler said. "My dad is a Presbyterian minister also."

Hubler served five churches in Iowa, one in Nebraska, one in Kansas and one in California. He announced for Congress in February of 2007.

"For me, it's just a regular transition," he said. "When I volunteered to go into the Navy, it was because I wanted to serve my county during a time of war and when I went into politics, it was because I wanted to serve people. I very carefully picked the candidates that I thought were candidates who represented the people and listened to the people."

When he shifted to ministry in the Presbyterian Church, Hubler said it was another chance to serve the congregations in the church and to serve people.

"Running for office is just another extension of that serving the people," he said. "I've spent my entire life serving people and I think it just all fits in very well."

Hubler has concerns about portions of the Republican Party platform that discourage federal support for the ethanol industry. He also doesn't agree with King's positions on illegal immigration and the War on Terror.

"We don't have any national energy policy," he said. "We don't have a policy that tells us what we're really doing in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The economy is in the tank. Congress and the President have just not paid attention."

The challenger would like to discuss those issues with his Congressman but Hubler questions whether King will agree to debates.

"We have a Congressman who really doesn't come back and spend time with the people," Hubler said. "He won't debate me, so he won't go before the people. We have a Congressman who has just spent six years talking about immigration and talking the Iraqi War."

Hubler also said he will have more of an advertising presence in the final weeks of the campaign and plans a "32 counties in 32 days" tour throughout the district.

"We're out there talking to the people and listening to them," Hubler said. "The people of Iowa and the Fifth District -- they know what the problems are, but the neat thing is, they know what the solutions are. We need a Congressman who listens and takes those solutions back to D.C., works for them and puts them into law."

Voters go to the polls on Nov. 4. All 435 members of the U.S. House have terms set to expire following the fall election.