Jim Anderson embraces tea party ideals

Jim Anderson was made for the tea party, and the tea party was made for Jim Anderson.

While most of the Republican candidates in the Kansas 4th District have courted votes at the gatherings, none have embraced it and its agenda with Anderson's vigor.

Lowering taxes — for it.

Term limits — for it.

The Fair Tax Act — really for it.

President Obama's health-care plan — against it.

Federal involvement in education — against it.

Big government — dead set against it.

"We need to fundamentally reduce the size of government," Anderson said.

Although he's on the ballot for the Republican nomination, Anderson prefers to call himself a "constitutional conservative."

"I'm a conservative patriotic American first and a Republican last," he said.

He's a big fan of the Second Amendment — right to keep and bear arms — and the 10th — states' rights.

But there are other parts of the constitution he wants to see go away, particularly the 16th Amendment — federal income tax — and the 17th — direct election of senators.

His opposition to the 16th Amendment pretty much explains itself. He wants to dump the current income tax system in favor of the "Fair Tax."

According to Americans for Fair Taxation, the group pushing for the idea, "it abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift,

estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities."

"I've been talking about the Fair Tax since day one," Anderson proclaims proudly.

His unflagging support earned him an endorsement from the measure's author and congressional sponsor, Rep. John Lindner, R-Ga.

"When I see a candidate like Jim Anderson running on the Fair Tax, it tells me that this is an individual who subscribes to the conservative ideals and principles that we need more of in Congress," Lindner said in a statement.

Anderson's opposition to the 17th Amendment is rooted in his own reverence for the founding fathers and his support for states' rights.

The amendment, which passed in 1913, gave voters the right to choose their senators. Originally, the Constitution left the House of Representatives to a popular vote while senators were selected by the states' legislatures.

Anderson said he agrees with the founders, who he said thought the senators should be more like "ambassadors for the states," representing more sovereign state governments in the federal arena.

Tea party support

Anderson's beliefs have dovetailed closely with the tea party, a movement started with anger over taxes and federal control and fueled by reverence for patriotism, the Constitution and the founders.

To tea partiers, many of whom show up in colonial garb and wave "Don't Tread on Me" flags, Anderson's message resonates.

"Jim is a true tea party candidate," said Lynda Tyler of Kansans for Liberty, which has done most of the organizing of the local gatherings.

The tea party as a group isn't endorsing anyone, but Tyler said she is personally backing Anderson.

"Jim has always been the first one at the tea parties and the last one to leave," she said. "He is the only one (of the candidates) who has said 'how can I help' to the tea party movement. "

Anderson regularly criticizes both parties' performance in Washington. He says both bear the blame for letting government get too big and cutting too many "backroom deals" in the federal budget.

"Earmarks for campaign contributions, earmarks for a favor, we don't need that anymore," he said. "I wanted to give the citizens a choice.... I'm just out running for Congress as a citizen."

And running hard.

Anderson's campaign fund is dwarfed by the money that the two front-runners, Mike Pompeo and Wink Hartman, have brought to the race. He's sought to compensate with energy.

Early in the campaign, he went to every day of the Kansas State Fair, offering his hand to anyone who'd shake it.

Some nights, he slept in a motor home, which he's redecorated as a campaign bus with his picture and the slogan "fueled by freedom" on the sides.

He's criss-crossed the district in his RV, paying special attention to small towns along the way. He campaigned door to door in places like Dexter, a town of 336 people about 20 miles southeast of Winfield.

Long-held views

Now 49, Anderson said he acquired the views he's running on at an early age.

Born in Boise, Idaho, "I was always immersed in a conservative point of view," he said.

His view on the Constitution was shaped by his mother, who required him to read textbooks on history and civics.

"Mom always said it (the Constitution) is etched in stone, it's not open for interpretation," he said. "I've always believed that."

Anderson earned associate degrees in aeronautics and general education at the College of San Mateo, in the San Francisco Bay area. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree in business from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Anderson worked for 20 years as a pilot for airlines including Eastern, PanAm and ATA. His residence moved around the country with his jobs.

He retired to Wichita in 2007 and launched his current career as owner of PostNet, a small printing and shipping business in northeast Wichita.

Anderson said his best hope of winning the 4th District race is if Hartman and Pompeo tear each other down too much. The two leaders in pre-election polls have carpet-bombed the airwaves with ads attacking each other for the last several weeks.

"People are disgusted with what's going on," Anderson said.

He said he thinks that opens an opportunity for another candidate, "whether it's Jean (Schodorf) or me or Paij (Rutschman)."

This story was originally published July 20, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Jim Anderson embraces tea party ideals."