Laguna's Presidential Candidate Karger: Packing Up, Not Backing Down

Fred Karger and Buddy Roemer are the last of the long-shot candidates.

Despite their full-fledged efforts to be taken seriously on the GOP ticket, neither Roemer nor Karger have been given a fair shake –  at least, not by the mainstream media, says Karger.

Neither were invited to participate in even one of the 15 televised debates held since May. Now that the New Hampshire Primary is history, both Karger and Roemer are looking forward to whatever comes next. As reported Tuesday by ABC News, Roemer has already moved on, leaving his staff to close up the house on Brown Avenue in Manchester where he's been living.

Same with Karger, who gave himself a day to pack up, and a week to regroup in Laguna Beach, before heading off to Michigan to pick up where he left off in the battle for legitimacy.

Breaking down barriers is what this campaign has been about for Karger, who is the first openly gay presidential candidate, a fact of his life compounded by the other important fact of Karger's life.

"I'm also the first Jewish presidential candidate, which I guess makes me, I don't know, 'Gayish?'" says Karger, flashing his familiar, fully-loaded smile. Skipping South Carolina was a conscious decision. "I would not do well in South Carolina," said Karger, who not only understands the hurdles of campaigning as a gay Jewish Republican in the deep south, but also couldn't see paying the requisite $35,000 to South Carolina's GOP just to get on the ballot.

Especially knowing it still wouldn't guarantee him a spot on stage in next week's two scheduled televised debates. Money is no object for Karger, who runs a notoriously frugal campaign. As other candidates have bowed out – first Tim Pawlenty, then Herman Cain, Gary Johnson and Michele Bachmann (Karger managed to finish 137 votes ahead of Bachmann, who had dropped out before the New Hampshire primary) – Karger sees more wiggle room for him in the spotlight.

"Gary's gone and Buddy may not continue. With Michele and Herman out, we're down to seven. I'd say Rick Perry's not long for this world, and for Santorum and Gingrich, it's only a matter of time. That leaves me, along with Romney, Paul and Huntsman. And if there are only four of us on the ballot in Michigan, there's no way they're going to keep me off that stage," Karger said. And all he needs is a chance to be heard, he says.

Winning isn't everything, says Karger. He got into this race because his concern for the country "is paramount," and the current field of GOP candidates leans too far to the right, Karger says.

"But in my heart, I'm doing this because it's time," says Karger, who knows all about timing. As he writes in his just published memoir, Fred Who?, he knew of only two gay role models  during his formative years. "One was Liberace... the other was Paul Lynde, a guy in a lot of sitcoms and the 'center square' on the TV show Hollywood Squares. That was it," writes Karger. He didn't come out to his family until 20 years ago, at the age of 41.

"Each chapter in my book opens with a letter I've received from young people, thanking me for being open about being gay. Since campaigning, I've received thousands more. In fact, I was marching in the Occupy NH Family Pride march on Saturday in Manchester, and this 16-year-old girl, a lesbian, came up to me with her big saucer eyes, and said, 'I can't tell you how much this means to me, what you're doing,' and of course, I started balling as she told me how tough her life is. We cried together," Karger said.

Equality issues abound in Karger's world. But for right now, he's focused on getting equal treatment among a field of Republican candidates who all believe they should be the next President of the United States. That means breaking through the invisible barrier that has, so far, kept him from standing on a national public stage to share his platform and debate the issues.

There is hope, says Karger, pointing to a new study just released by the Harvard-Kennedy School that questions whether the current debate process really serves voters, candidates and political parties in a democracy.

"I think it's important to talk about the media's influence on this race. I've run a national campaign. I've received international press, from the Washington Post to the biggest newspaper in Japan," Karger said. He said with no malice at all that he was disappointed that New Hampshire's only statewide paper did not invite him to sit with the editorial board, as it did all the other candidates.

"The publisher, Joe McQuaid, met with me informally in the summer, and said he thought I deserved to be in their televised debates, but that it was ultimately up to the TV network, not them, whether I could be included," Karger said.

All water under the bridge for Karger, who's got many more bridges to cross. "For now, I'm focused on Michigan, where they've already invited me to be on the ballot, solely because I've had significant national exposure," Karger said. "Just give me one debate; that's all I need."

This article originally appeared on Merrimack (New Hampshire) Patch.