I began this long campaign twenty-seven months ago with a trip to Washington, DC, New York and New Hampshire. I left my home in Laguna Beach for the wintry freeze of February back east.
It was two weeks that would change my life forever.
Speaking to 40 students crammed into a basement meeting room at the University of New Hampshire’s Municipal Union Building (MUB), I told my story and my idea to the members of the GSA – the Gay Straight Alliance.
They were in shock and awe that an openly gay man could actually consider running for President of the United States. I made up mind that night to run and with it make history.
It has been nonstop ever since. I have campaigned fulltime in over 30 states, given hundreds of speeches, met tens of thousands of people, heard so many gut-wrenching stories and so many uplifting ones that I often felt I should have gotten a degree in counseling before undertaking this run. I even took a foreign trip to the Mideast and London as a presidential candidate.
I qualified for the Fox News debate in Ames, Iowa last August, but Fox changed its rules to keep me out. There were twelve of us running then. Missing that debate kept me in the second tier where I have been ever since. At some point I had been tied with or ahead of every Republican candidate running for president in national polls except Mitt Romney. I managed to beat Michele Bachmann in the New Hampshire Primary and Ron Paul in Puerto Rico.
Now it’s down to only two candidates running who appear on the June 5th California Republican ballot and I am one of them.
California is where I have lived for the past 39 years. As a political consultant, I managed dozens of campaigns and helped shape this great state and nation from behind the scenes. Now I want to take a page out of my old boss Ronald Reagan’s book and help to bring back the American Spirit of optimism and getting along.
As the first openly gay candidate to ever run for president from a major political party I make history every day. I was extremely honored to be invited on the California ballot by our Secretary of State, Debra Bowen. I cannot quit the campaign until I fulfill this honor given to me.
I have been all over California for the past two months. We have eight full and part-time staff and lots of volunteers. We just aired our second California commercial “Pee-wee Romney” and we will be working tirelessly until the Primary.
Check out our web site www.fredkarger.com and my ballot statement on the Secretary of State’s site: http://tinyurl.com/6r83lwl
By giving California Republican voters an alternative to Mitt Romney, and millions of LGBT Americans hope that they can be and do anything they want, I am continually inspired. I will fight hard for votes in California all the way up until the June 5th election.
Follow Fred Karger on Twitter: www.twitter.com/fredkarger
