GOP 2012 Hopeful Fred Karger Tries to Get Into RPOF P5 Debate

Submitted by Kevin Derby on September 20, 2011 - 11:04am

Political activist and presidential hopeful Fred Karger, a veteran of many Republican campaigns at the state and national level, is demanding to be included in a debate held at the Republican Party of Floridas (RPOF) Presidency 5 event on Thursday in Orlando.

Karger sent a letter to Google CEO Larry Page, Michael Clemente of Fox News and RPOF Vice Chairman Lenny Curry asking to be included in the debate, arguing that he meets the minimum threshold in the polls.

I have now achieved an average of 1 percent in seven national polls, and I am writing to request my invitation to the Fox News, Republican Party of Florida and YouTube debate on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011, wrote Karger.Fox News has consistently kept its barrier for debate inclusion low to include many of the presidential candidates who have proven national support by garnering at least 1 percent in five national polls.

I met that benchmark, having achieved 1 percent in an average of five national polls before the Aug. 9, 2011, Fox News debate in Ames, Iowa. However, I was not invited to participate in that debate, even though I met the qualifications, so I filed a 158-page complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Case #MUR 6493, against Fox News executives Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes, continued Karger. I asked the FEC to expedite their investigation so that I could be included in this weeks debate, but have not been notified of their findings. So in the interest of fairness, and with more polling information ... I trust that the organizers of Thursday's debate will allow me a spot on that stage.

Karger pointed to national polls released by Zogby, Fox News, GFK -- best known for their work with the Associated Press -- and Synovoate (which has merged with Ispos) that showed him at 1 percent. He also cited a Harris Poll where he garnered 2 percent.

In the meantime, the Karger camp is planning to follow the same strategy they adopted during a debate earlier in the month in Tampa and run a commercial during it.

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