Republican candidate Fred Karger claims he has satisfied all of the requirements to qualify for the Republican debate put on by Fox News this Thursday 8/11/2011. He sent a letter to Fox News explaining his situation;
Dear All:
I am a declared Republican candidate for President of the United States who meets all of the requirements to participate in the Fox News Debate on August 11, 2011 in Ames Iowa.
Your criteria states:
Candidates must satisfy the following by 4 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, August 9, 2011
1. Registered with the Federal Elections Commission as a presidential exploratory committee or presidential campaign.
2. Meet all U.S. Constitutional requirements.
3. Garnered at least an average of one percent in five national polls based on most recent polling leading up to the registration day.
Attached is a new national poll that came out yesterday. It was conducted by Harris Interactive, sample size 1,168 that was in the field between August 2 – 4, 2011. The Harris Poll tested all 12 major declared Republican candidates for President. 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.
Karger then submitted the Harris poll to support his claim, but the most interesting part of the poll was that 46% of those polled didn’t want any of the 12 declared candidates;
HARRIS POLL
If you are a registered Republican or Independent, which of the following candidates would you be most likely to support for the Republican nomination for President in 2012?
Base: Registered Republican/Independent
Mitt Romney 16%
Ron Paul 10%
Michele Bachmann 10%
Herman Cain 6%
Newt Gingrich 4%
Tim Pawlenty 2%
Fred Karger 2%
Jon Huntsman 2%
Rick Santorum 1%
Gary Johnson 1%
Thaddeus McCotter 1%
Buddy Roemer 1%
None of these 46%