Friday, February 4, 2011

Fred Karger events go unlisted on NH GOP calendar

Last month, Fred Karger made stops in Durham, Keene, Manchester, and Portsmouth during a highly publicized four day trip through the Granite State that was covered by the Washington Post and local media. Strangely, the official online calendar of the Republican Party of New Hampshire made no mention of Karger's visit. The calendar routinely lists events for the party's other potential 2012 presidential candidates, from heavy weights like Mitt Romney to fringe candidates like Andy Martin. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, I decided to look into this.

I asked Fred Karger, the only openly gay Republican who is exploring a 2012 run for president, what he had to say about the apparent discrepancy. He sent me the following response via email:

"I have worked behind the scenes in Republican politics for over 3 decades, but if I decide to run for President in 2012 I would do so as an outsider and first-time candidate. I have an excellent relationship with the Republican Party of New Hampshire. I met with their top staff last February on my very first trip to New Hampshire. I have contributed to the Party, and would like very much like to have my schedule included in their master calendar. I look forward to meeting with new Chairman, Jack Kimball on a future trip."

Well put.

NH GOP Chairman Jack Kimball and staffer Chris Buck had yet to respond to a similar email inquiry at the time of this writing. Their response will be posted here when it is received.

2 comments:

  1. I don't get how this is News; but Last month John Sununu and BJ Perry would have been the ones to update the State Calender.

    I've never even heard of this guy. I wonder if he's seen the NH GOP Platform.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The NH GOP has a tradition of including all voices in the state's first in the nation presidential primary. Recall 2008, when the NH GOP backed out of a FOX News debate over the exclusion of Ron Paul. Seems strange that they are happy to help promote events for every other potential Republican presidential candidate but Fred Karger. I don't want to jump to the conclusion that it is because Karger is openly gay. There may very well be a reasonable explanation.

    ReplyDelete