Fox News Intends to Exclude Fred Karger from Thursday’s Iowa Debate

Fox News intends to exclude Fred Karger, the first openly gay person to seek a major-party presidential nomination, from Thursday’s nationally-televised debate in Ames, Iowa.

Karger, who officially entered the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination more than sixteen months ago, had sent a letter to Fox News on Friday stating that his 2 percent showing in the latest Harris Interactive Poll qualifies him for a spot in the August 11 debate.

In his letter, the 61-year-old Karger said that he has met all of the debate criteria by averaging at least one percent in five national polls.  “The Harris Poll tested all 12 major declared Republican candidates for President,” wrote Karger.  “I am at 2%, tied with former Governors Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman.  With this latest national poll, I now meet your objective criteria of averaging at least 1% in five national polls.”

The Harris Poll of 1,168 registered Republican and independent voters was conducted August 2-4.

In a statement to OutQ News — a gay and lesbian news blog — Michael Clemente, vice president of Fox News, maintained that three of the polls cited by the long-shot Republican presidential hopeful were online surveys that did not meet their criteria.

Karger disagrees and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of suing Fox News for inclusion in Thursday’s debate, which is being co-sponsored by the Iowa Republican Party.

“I contend they are creating these rules, making a subjective criteria as opposed to objective criteria, and the law is very specific on that,” Karger told OutQ News.

Karger contends that the online polls — conducted by Zogby and Harris Interactive, respectively — are professional surveys worthy of serious consideration.

Coupled with his 1% showing in two separate Zogby polls and a similar showing in a Fox News Poll released on April 28, Karger, who polled less than 1% in a McClatchy-Marist Poll on June 29, maintains that his two percent showing in the latest Harris Poll is enough to earn him a spot in the Iowa debate.

While most of the declared GOP presidential candidates, including Jon Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty — both of whom are running dead even with Karger in the Harris Poll — are expected to participate in Thursday’s debate, at least three other contenders won’t be the sharing the stage with them, including U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan who is actively competing in the Ames Straw Poll two days later.

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer — both of whom were barred from participating in the June 13 CNN debate in Manchester, New Hampshire — are also being excluded from the Iowa debate.