Ultimate 2012 underdog and self-styled "anti-Romney" candidate Fred Karger moved a little bit closer to obtaining a small measure of limelight today, as the South Carolina GOP has extended an invitation to Karger to participate in their May 5 debate -- the first official GOP face-off of the campaign season.
Per Andy Barr at Politico, some hurdles remain, the first being a $35,000 filing fee Karger is reportedly ready to pay. The second requirement might be a taller order:
But Karger also has to average at least 1 percentage point in five national polls leading up to the debate. And the little-known candidate isn't even getting his name surveyed by national polling firms, let alone registering any support.
If Karger has a plan to clear that hurdle, there's no sign of it on his official campaign website or at the "Let Fred In!" site that's been dedicated to getting him into the debates. Nevertheless, Karger's calendar of upcoming events confidently includes the South Carolina event.
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Over at National Journal's HotlineOnCall, Jessica Taylor and Reid Wilson do a great job explaining a time-tested political gambit.
Here's the situation: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wanted to goose up some media coverage for their attack on GOP incumbents who voted "to gut Medicare by supporting Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget proposal." The DCCC's fight would come in the form of radio ads in the districts of 25 GOP lawmakers.
Sounds like a pricey campaign, right? The answer may surprise you! (SPOILER ALERT: As it turns out, you can get political reporters to do almost anything if you make it shiny enough) [HotlineOnCall]
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Once again, in Iowa, "V" will not stand for "vendetta," but rather, "Vilsack." [Des Moines Register]
Here's a very important piece of 2008 campaign trivia that's being relitigated now. [Officials Say The Darnedest Things]
Jon Huntsman's Horizon PAC has hired Whit Ayres as a pollster. He is not related to Nick Ayers, who was hired by Pawlenty. And neither man was related to Bill Ayers, of the Weather Underground. Nevertheless, Ayers-mania continues apace, in all of its forms. (The upshot is that this is a sign Huntsman may mount a campaign in 2012, unless he doesn't.) [Taegan Goddard's Political Wire]
Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney don't rise to Huckabeeian levels of stand-up comedy. [War Room @ Salon]
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