Fred Karger For President - NBC & Facebook - Let Fred Into Your Debate!

January 2, 2012 Contact: Rina Shah rina@fredkarger.com 202-507-9583 Fred to NBC/Facebook: Let Me In to Sunday's NH Debate We sent the letter below to all the organizers of Saturday's Debate in New Hampshire.  They have not publicly released the debate criteria, so by all reasonable standards, I should be allowed on that stage. Please read my letter below:   January 2, 2012 Mr. Steve Capus President of NBC News 30 Rockefeller Center, New York, New York, 10112 Chuck Todd Political Director NBC News, 4001 Nebraska Avenue, Washington, DC 20016. Mark Zuckerberg President & CEO Facebook 1601 S. California Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 Katie Harbath Associate Manager for Policy Facebook 1611 Connecticut Ave NW. Suite 300 Washington DC 20009 Betsy Fischer Executive Director Meet the Press, NBC News, 4001 Nebraska Avenue, Washington, DC 20016 Re:  Let Fred Karger into the NBC – Facebook Debate Dear All: I am writing to officially request an invitation to the NBC - Facebook Debate on Sunday January 8, 2012.   I am currently tied with Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum in two recent New Hampshire polls.  New Hampshire’s WMUR TV and The Boston Globe have confirmed that I have spent more time campaigning in the Granite State than any other candidate for president.  I have walked precincts and campaigned all over New Hampshire during my 25 visits.  I have conducted more campaign events than any other candidate during my more than 200 days in the Granite State since February of 2010.  I have met with nearly every editorial board: The Concord Monitor, Foster's Daily Democrat, The Nashua Telegraph, The Keene Sentinel , The Portsmouth Herald , The Citizen of Laconia and The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript.  I was the first candidate to file in person for the New Hampshire ballot.  I am now only one of eight Republicans actively running for president who will appear on Michigan’s GOP ballot in February, and I will be competing in other state primaries and caucuses as well. Eight Is Enough   The overwhelming majority of Republican primary debates have included eight candidates.  I am currently one of the top eight in the 2012 Republican presidential primary field since Herman Cain has suspended his campaign, Gary Johnson is seeking the nomination of the Libertarian Party and it appears that Buddy Roemer is seeking the nomination of Americans Elect.  I have scored 2% or 1% in more than a dozen national polls that have included me and have tied Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann , Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry and beat Rick Santorum in many of these.  That is correct; I have tied all of my Republican presidential primary opponents in methodologically sound polls of primary voters except for Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. Mark McKinnon - Harvard Kennedy School Weigh in on Debates Mark McKinnon, former Senior Media Advisor for President George W. Bush, Global Vice Chair for Hill & Knowlton and the Reidy Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, just published an extensive research paper on the 2012 Republican Primary Debates that will be released very soon.  In his 30 page report, “Going Rogue: Time to Reform the Presidential Primary Debates,” Mr. McKinnon found that “the selection criteria for the 2012 Republican primary debates and forums have been constant only in the candidates excluded.”  The four excluded candidates were my three peers and me.  The other three have let the Republican Primary: Gary Johnson, Thaddeus McCotter and Buddy Roemer.  The main criteria for these debates have been polling.  With the help of researchers from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Mark McKinnon has proven that “given the insignificant difference between a one percent or 2 percent polling number, particularly early in the primary calendar, it is easy to question the entire system upon which the criteria for entering into primary debates has been constructed.”  In his conclusion, McKinnon asserted, “The 2012 presidential primary debates went rogue.” Extensive International, National and Regional Media Coverage Google’s search engine has 1,740,000 listings for me.  I have been interviewed and profiled in thousands of stories including the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Jerusalem Post, the Observer, The Guardian, The OC Weekly and Chicago Magazine. BBC's HardTalk interviewed its first 2012 Republican candidate when Steven Sackur interviewed me.  Fox News, ABC, MSNBC, CBS News, New Hampshire's WMUR, The Manchester Union Leader, The Des Moines Register, Politico and The Huffington Post all regularly include me in their lists of 2012 candidates.   I have appeared on CBS, ABC, CNBC, NPR, Rachel Maddow, Comedy Central and Thomas Roberts’ show on MSNBC as well as hundreds more TV and radio shows.    NBC & Facebook Can Make History The Time Has Come.  I should be included in the NBC - Facebook Debate on January 8, 2012 with the other leading Republican candidates.  As the only moderate Republican running for president this cycle, I have many different views on issues and many new ideas that have not yet been talked about in previous debates.  As the first openly gay candidate of a major political party, my appearance on your debate stage will be historic.  What a proud moment that will be for millions of Americans. I look forward to hearing from you, and hope to see you in Concord next Sunday! Thank you. Best regards, Fred Karger fred@fredkarger.com  We're sending thousands of pieces of direct mail to Independent voters with the same "Fed Up With the Republican Party?" message. Please help us send even more direct mail out to these important voters: Fred’s Campaigning in New Hampshire all Week Heather from Bow, NH sent Kevin a text message yesterday: "Just went to my town clerk and voted for Fred." Heather goes to law school in Washington, DC and voted by absentee ballot since she will be out of state on January 10th, the day of the New Hampshire Primary. Thank you Heather!  What a great message to send the Republican Party - student support for the only moderate Republican candidate running for President. In fact that is the closing theme of our campaign in New Hampshire. We have a new commercial running statewide beginning tomorrow, and we’ll be sending thousands of pieces of direct mail to Independent and Republican voters with the "Fed up with the Republican Party?" theme. Fred is tied with Bachmann and Santorum With your help, I can beat Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum in the New Hampshire Primary. The last two New Hampshire polls have me tied with them!  What a powerful message we could send the country if Fred Karger, the first openly gay candidate in history, could compete with the two most homophobic candidates running for President. Jam Packed Schedule We were all over the Granite State this past week. Today we are off to Peterborough, Keene and end up at a House Party at 7 pm tonight, Monday, January 2nd at Bob Thompson and Mike Jacobsen’s  – 748 Beech St., Manchester.   We have lots of volunteers staying at the New Hampshire White House now and helping out. Fred in the News Here's some of the great New Hampshire Coverage we received this week: Keene Sentinel AOL's Patch.com WMUR ABC TV WMUR ABC TV Thanks for all your help and support.  We will keep you posted on everything that we have going on this final week before the first-in-the-nation Primary next Tuesday.   Five for Fred – PLEASE HELP OUT Please forward this email to 5 other New Hampshire voters.  You will be a part of history. Thank you so much and a very Happy New Year!!! Best wishes, Fred Please help us continue to get our message out.  It is making a difference.  Send in a contribution today by clicking on the red button below.  Thank you for your support!   Contributions to Fred Karger for President are not deductible for federal income tax purposes or charitable contributions.  Federal law requires us to use our best efforts to collect and report the name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer of individuals whose contributions exceed $200 in an election cycle.  Contributions by corporations, foreign nationals, labor unions, federal government contractors and minors under the age of 18 are prohibited.  Federal law limits an individual to a maximum of $2,500 for the Primary Election and $2,500 for the General Election.  Married couples may contribute $5,000 for the Primary Election and $5,000 for the General Election if the check is written on a joint account.

NRN - Update on NBC News Email Scandal

Fellow Bloggers,

Yesterday, a story broke regarding an email sent from NBC News to an employee of Americans for Limited Government.  As you may know, NetRight Nation is the official blog of Americans for Limited Government.  Please take some time to read through these stories about the incident

NBC "Bite me Jew boy!" Email Scandal:  Americans for Limited Government is appalled that an employee of the NBC news network apparently felt it was appropriate to send an email to an ALG employee, in response to a standard news release, saying, "Bite me, Jew Boy."

According to ALG records, the email came from the Blackberry and email address of Jane Stone, a producer for NBC's Dateline. The email was sent to Alex Rosenwald, the ALG Director of Media Outreach. The news release to which Ms Stone apparently responded was one in which ALG called upon Congress to defund ACORN.

UPDATE on NBC Email Scandal:  The increasingly hysterical responses by NBC news boss Steve Capus to the escalating Stonegate Scandal are disappointing at best and chilling at worst. Here is a man who runs what used to be a highly respected major news bureau who now finds himself conjuring up gremlins in cyberspace to defend what appears to be horrendously bigoted behavior within his own news room.

Having spoken directly with Mr. Capus for nearly 15 minutes Friday afternoon, I want to once again repeat my offer to him: if you really don't believe that Ms. Stone sent the "Bite me, Jew boy" email to ALG staffer Alex Rosenwald, we will be happy to work with you to track down who sent it from her Blackberry using her email address.

ALG Statement to NBC President Capus' "Stonegate Scandal" Comments

Statement by Carter L. Clews to Steve Capus' "Stonegate Scandal" Comments

The increasingly hysterical responses by NBC news boss Steve Capus and NBC News itself to the escalating Stonegate Scandal are disappointing at best and chilling at worst. Here is a man who runs what used to be a highly respected major news bureau who now finds himself conjuring up gremlins in cyberspace to defend what appears to be horrendously bigoted behavior within his own news room.

Having spoken directly with Mr. Capus for nearly 15 minutes Friday afternoon, I want to once again repeat my offer to him: if you really don't believe that Ms Stone sent the "Bite me, Jew boy" email to ALG staffer Alex Rosenwald, we will be happy to work with you to track down who sent it from her Blackberry using her email address.

This is precisely the same offer I made to Ms Stone at 11:00AM Friday morning, when she denied having sent any such email to Alex Rosenwald. Now, Mr. Capus has changed her story to say that, yes, she sent an email on Thursday, but it did not say "Bite me, Jew boy."

Again, we are more than willing to help NBC resolve its internal problems, but Mr. Capus needs to work with those trying to ferret out the full story, not against, us. Tom Brokaw, one of Mr. Capus's closest friends has said of the NBC news boss, "He does have a little bit of a hair trigger. He could blow. But I could always walk in and close the door and say, 'Take a breath.' "

My message to Mr. Capus now is, "Take a breath, and let's try to get to the bottom of what has now become of your once-respected news organization."

Mr. Clews is the Director of Communications for Americans for Limited Government, the group that exposed the NBC email.

ALG Response to NBC Accusations on Politico: "We did our due diligence."

Carter Clews, Director of Communications, Americans for Limited Government

We at Americans for Limited Government are saddened that instead of helping us to get to the bottom of the hateful email that was indeed sent from NBC's server, and this can be verified, and was not tampered with, which can also be verified, that NBC President Steve Capus has instead chosen to circle the wagons and protect what is indefensible with hysterical, frantic accusations. 

This email has left a digital footprint that is undeniable.  We did our due diligence.  We have confirmed that it indeed came from NBC's server and Jane Stone's email address. 

As before, we renew our offer that we made to both Ms. Stone and NBC President Capus over the phone today to get to the bottom of who sent this email from Ms. Stone's Blackberry email address.  That offer remains open, and we would like it very much if both Ms. Stone and NBC would issue an apology to both Americans for Limited Government, and Mr. Alex Rosenwald, who was the target of this hateful email.

ALG Statement in Response to NBC "Bite me, Jew Boy" Email

Americans for Limited Government is appalled that an employee of the NBC news network apparently felt it was appropriate to send an email to an ALG employee, in response to a standard news release, saying, "Bite me, Jew Boy."

According to ALG records, the email came from the Blackberry and email address of Jane Stone, a producer for NBC's Dateline. The email was sent to Alex Rosenwald, the ALG Director of Media Outreach. The news release to which Ms Stone apparently responded was one in which ALG called upon Congress to defund ACORN.

Americans for Limited Government does not contend that NBC or its parent company GE, are anti-Semitic. What is highly disturbing, however, is that there clearly is a culture at NBC that has allowed this person who clearly has issues to go unchecked.

Ms Stone claims she did not send the offensive email. If that is not the case, we at ALG call upon her to help ascertain who did send it using her Blackberry and her email address. If Ms Stone did, in fact, send it, we at ALG call upon Ms Stone to apologize to Mr. Rosenwald, and we call upon the NBC hierarchy above Ms Stone to join her in issuing that apology.

Attachments: Anti-Semitic email from NBC's Jane Stone to ALG, September 24th, 2009.