Out of closet to knock on White House door

Fred Karger is hoping that standing for the presidency will open doors for the gay community. Photo / AP

A gay, Jewish Republican walks into a bar. Then he sits down, orders a coffee and starts earnestly discussing the progress of his campaign to become the next President of the United States.

That's what happens when Fred Karger does a lunchtime interview. And if the premise of his bid for the White House sounds as if it belongs in a comedy routine, then so does his official slogan. Plastered across the bumper stickers and badges he carries in a briefcase, it reads simply: "Fred Who?".

The vast majority of the voters who encounter Karger on the campaign trail take that sentiment literally. In this (admittedly early) stage of election season, the bespectacled 61-year-old can pass through his native Los Angeles almost unrecognised. His poll rating is closer to zero than 1 per cent.

But Karger is deadly serious about his mission, which is to be the first openly gay presidential candidate to make it on to primary season ballot papers. And despite having no chance of even coming close to victory, he says that he is nonetheless confident of being able to alter the course of American politics.

"By just being around, I am making a difference," he says. "I am making a difference to the way other candidates view the gay community, and I'm sending a message to gay people: that you don't have to hide your sexuality to achieve anything you want to in this life."

Karger may not be your average Republican, in a race that has seen almost every major candidate veer dramatically rightwards in support of the God-fearing tea-party vote. But, unlike many a rival, he's by no means a complete outsider to the election process.

For more than 30 years, Karger, who was raised in a conservative Chicago family, worked as a lobbyist. He built a prosperous career representing large tobacco companies and dispensing campaign advice to some of California's most influential Republicans, including presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, whom he assisted with media management.

Based in Los Angeles, Karger kept his homosexuality secret from colleagues, clients, and even his family. He visited several psychiatrists in an unsuccessful effort to become interested in woman.

After retiring from the lobbying business seven years ago, Karger emerged tentatively from the closet. Then he decided to make up for his previous discretion by embarking on a second career in gay rights activism. His first major role was a high-profile job in the campaign against Proposition Eight, the ballot measure which outlawed same-sex marriage in California in 2008.

Now he is aiming at the White House. Thanks to his insider's knowledge of the political process, Karger is convinced he can make a mark. In a Republican field which currently includes eight "major" candidates and 22 others, his bankroll of US$360,000 ($486,000) makes him the wealthiest of the "also-rans".

"Some of the candidates you hear criticising the Government for deficit spending have million-dollar deficits in their own campaign funds," he says. "I'm doing this on a shoestring. I have six full and part-time staff members and have about a US$25,000-a-month overhead, so I have the cash to stay in this thing through next August if I have to."

Karger isn't necessarily running to win. Instead, he hopes to further a cause. To this end, he has a two-pronged strategy. First, he will concentrate his limited resources on New Hampshire, one of the first states to vote in primaries, where an unexpectedly strong performance can elevate rank outsiders to the status of contender. "It's a gaybird state, it's the second-least religious state in the country, and 42 per cent of all registered voters are undeclared or independent," he says. "That means they can vote in either primary. They're not going to want to vote in the Democratic one, because no one serious will challenge Obama but, in the Republican primary, well of course they might. So I think that 42 per cent of the votes are up for grabs."

Karger's second tactic is simply to refuse to go away. As the number of declared contenders for the Republican nomination dwindles, he hopes to leverage election law to force broadcasters to allow him to take part in high-profile televised debates.

Karger's end-game is to shatter perhaps the greatest taboo of this Republican election season by publicly asking front-runner Mitt Romney, a lifelong Mormon, about his beliefs.

"When I was working on the Proposition Eight campaign, I did a lot of work on the Mormon church, and how they funded anti-gay legislation. If I get into a debate I intend to use that knowledge to cross-examine Romney, because although he keeps very quiet about it, he's actually the perfect Mormon."

Karger is adamant his candidacy will one day be seen as transformative. "I lived in the closet for so long and was just miserable about it, so I'm doing this for young people so they don't have to live the life I did. In future, I just hope people look back on the 2012 election and say: 'This guy made a difference'."

- INDEPENDENT