Oct. 10, 2010--Fred Karger held
a meet-and-greet reception for his presidential exploratory committe at
the Duplex Diner in Adams Morgan. Karger, a long-time Republican
consultant who describes himself as "independent Republican," has been
devoting much of his attention to New Hampshire. He has made
seven visits
there this year, and has an eighth coming up, he ran the
first TV ad by a possible presidential candidate starting September 18
on WMUR-TV, and he is looking into renting a house there. Karger
also has brought on board a finance director, Andy Szekeres, who served
as deputy finance director on Jared Polis' 2008 congressional campaign.
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At one point a man handed Karger
a donation, and Karger stated, "Now I feel like a real candidate;
that's never happened to me before." Matthew Cook, an attorney
and member of Log Cabin Republicans, said he first became aware of
Karger as a result of Karger's work on Proposition 8. "Fred is
going to demonstrate, particularly in New Hampshire, that gay
Republicans are a real group of people," Cook stated. Cook said
that Karger could become "sort of an Alan Keyes figure" standing in the
room with the other candidates and explaining gay issues. Michael
Komo, president of Allied in Pride at The George Washington University,
said his group has "gotten the word out on campus and we're eager to
help." Komo said a Karger campaign "will help LGBT youth who are
struggling with their identity in their home or schools." Trevor Davis,
a web activist, was walking by the Diner, and stopped in to see what
the fuss was about. He questioned why Karger was a
Republican. "Why? How? They don't like you; they
really don't like you," Davis said. Davis, who later described
the Republican party as "a criminal cartel," said the notion of
Karger's candidacy was "sad and beautiful."
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