Fred Karger can't get into the CNN debate tonight for Republican presidential candidates, but he'll be as close by -- appearing on TV from a gas station.
Karger, the first openly gay candidate for president, will air a commercial in the Tampa market during the debate. The ad goes after big oil, a topic that might have resonance with Florida voters who faced down the threat of a major Gulf oil spill.
"It's time to take on big oil," Karger says to the camera, while standing outside a gas station. "Big oil is hurting families and destroying the American economy, all while raking in $1 trillion in profits over the last 10 years alone."
The populist message is less likely to be pushed Republican presidential candidates than by President Obama, who has called for the elimination of tax breaks for oil companies as a way to help balance the budget and who is a proponent of alternate energy solutions than oil. Michele Bachmann has loudly proclaimed she can return gas prices to less than $2 by expanding drilling in the United States, even in the Florida Everglades if it could be done safely and the region had oil.
"I'm Fred Karger; I am an independent Republican running for president," he explains, perhaps hinting at the difference between him and others.
The Karger ad nods to his standing as the only openly gay candidate in the race by promising he will combat big oil "like I fought for civil rights."
Karger has been left out of every Republican presidential debate since the start of the primary, and he's filed two complaints with the Federal Election Commission claiming he's been unfairly and deliberately excluded.
