July 19, 2011

GOP Candidate Fred Karger Raises a Few Bucks

Fred Karger is the first openly gay Republican to run for president.<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredkarger/4923880973/sizes/m/in/set-72157624314164101/">Fred Karger</a>/Flickr

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Upstart GOP presidential candidate Fred Karger, the first gay Republican ever to run for the nomination, is not exactly raising the big bucks. Gay Republicans are either few and far between, or they’re putting their money on, well, Barack Obama. But given his unusual niche, Karger isn’t doing all that badly either. Lost in all the news coverage of presidential fundraising is this little tidbit: Karger reported raising $264,000 in the last quarter, more than pot-promoter and former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, who raised $180,000, and not that far behind former Pennsylvania senator and arch anti-gay candidate Rick Santorum, who raised $581,000. Of course, $230,000 of Karger’s haul came from a single donor: Fred Karger.

Still, Karger seems highly skilled at getting his media coverage for free. He’s made good use of all the indignities heaped on him by anti-gay Republican gatekeepers, who’ve refused to let him participate in any major televised debates. He’s used his years of experience in the opposition research field to win coverage for his attacks on fellow candidate Mitt Romney. Then, last week, he made headlines after he challenged Rep. Michele Bachmann’s husband to a debate over his support of “reparative therapy,” a discredited form of psychological counseling that supposedly helps gays become straight. Karger urged Bachmann to “come out of the closet” to defend his Christian counseling clinics, which reportedly offer the therapy. Karger used the ensuing media coverage to take a few shots at Michele Bachmann as well, calling her a bigot for her anti-gay views.

Karger is certainly adding some extra color to GOP primary this year. This week, he’ll campaign in New Hampshire for a few days before traveling to San Francisco, where “Real World” hottie Mike Manning will headline a big fundraiser on Thursday that could bring in a few more donors to keep Karger’s show on the road.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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