A former Republican operative for three different Republican Administrations named Fred Karger has declared his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in 2012. He styles himself a gay conservative, but also a progressive Republican.
Karger says, "I am a fighter and I am trying to change the Republican party and to open it up to everybody. If every gay person left the Republican party and went to the Democrats, that would be stupid. I believe in smaller federal government and personal responsibility just like my hero, Ronald Reagan."
However, except for his advocacy of same-sex marriage, there is very little to be found on his website, or in the press clippings there, about Fred Karger the politician or (lacking electoral experience) politician-wannabe, with less than two years before the 2012 election.
The best article I have been able to find on the fellow, by Paul Harris in The Observer, notes that, like Karl Rove, he is a disciple of Lee Atwater, the Republican dirty trickster, and has no regrets about his role in the 1988 campaign. Karger toured the country with relatives of the victims of Willie Horton, a murderer that 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis had released, and it was a factor in Dukakis' defeat.
I have spoken about the Republican disinformationist from DC that inhabits my political discussion board. "Trent" has already spilled the beans that what Fred Karger is doing at college campuses is youth voter registration.
My speculation that Karger is acting as a stalking horse, running a bait-and-switch operation to register thousands and thousands of young gays and other students who then will vote (many for their first times) Republican in 2012, whoever the nominee is-- and it won't be Karger-- gains more credibility.
In one statement on his website, Karger claims that he expects to raise $5 million for his campaign. Heck, the Swift Boaters operated on about $6 million. And the composition of an ad that he used in Iowa says serious money, with up-to-standard graphics.
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