linkFred Karger (R.) has announced he is running for the 2012 Republican nomination for president.
Karger is the first openly gay presidential candidate in the U.S. When CBS correspondent Nancy Cordes asked why he would run for a party that has historically opposed gays, he responded, “Being a gay Republicans is kind of an oxymoron,” but “I have been a fighter in my party, I have always been on the more moderate side but I’m also a protégé of Lee Atwater. We need to open up this party and that’s one of my reasons for running. The party should not be dominated by one faction or another. It should be open to all.”
Karger claims that the country needs fresh leadership.
“I want to be a different kind of Republican. The kind of Republican I grew up with. I consider myself to be Progressive. The last Progressive Republican president was over 100 years ago; Theodore Roosevelt,” Karger told CBS.
Even though this is Karger’s first time running for political office, he served as an advisor to presidents Ford, Regan [sic], and George H.W Bush; he has be a behind-the-scenes player for 35 years.
Karger told CBS, “If I can get in one or more of these presidential debates, I will make history."
The guy has a longer pedigree in Republican politics than most of those considered front runners at this point. Assuming that he actually has some reasonable ideas, any reason why even moderate Republicans won't be able to get past "gay" to listen to what he has to say?
