Brian Damage
12-10-2011, 11:53 PM
http://dc-cdn.virtacore.com/2011/02/FredKarger1.jpg
MANCHESTER, N.H. — If there were ever an “It’s a Wonderful Life”-type movie made about underdog GOP presidential candidate Fred Karger, it would start on the cutting-room floor of “Horshack,” a promising 1976 sitcom pilot for ABC.
Based on nerdy high school student Arnold Horshack from “Welcome Back, Kotter,” the family comedy was a career breakthrough for Karger, an aspiring actor who was cast as Horshack’s street-tough cousin Howard. After a week of rehearsals, his character was cut out of the final script. The moment was a cruel blast of Hollywood disappointment: not being good enough to appear on a show that’s not good enough to air.
Horshack’s mother, Ellen Travolta, went on to star as Scott Baio’s TV mother three times (“Happy Days,” “Joanie Loves Chachi” and “Charles in Charge.”) Horshack’s little sister, Andrea McArdle, became “Little Orphan Annie” on Broadway. And Karger? Well, he wound up as the director of opposition research for Ronald Reagan’s reelection campaign.
Today he’s recasting himself on the national political stage, spending more than $25,000 a month in personal savings to fund a long-shot presidential bid predominantly aimed at repealing the federal Defense of Marriage Act and making gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Although he’s been taking campaign trips across the country, about half his time is devoted to making a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary.
“Anything is still possible,” the youthful 61-year-old Karger says in the dining room of his “New Hampshire White House,” a rented home in Manchester that doubles as campaign headquarters.
“New Hampshire can catapult you into the first tier,” he says, “and then the money starts flowing in. There’s an obvious lack of moderate, centrist Republicans in this race. I am it.”
http://thehill.com/capital-living/193827-welcome-back-karger
MANCHESTER, N.H. — If there were ever an “It’s a Wonderful Life”-type movie made about underdog GOP presidential candidate Fred Karger, it would start on the cutting-room floor of “Horshack,” a promising 1976 sitcom pilot for ABC.
Based on nerdy high school student Arnold Horshack from “Welcome Back, Kotter,” the family comedy was a career breakthrough for Karger, an aspiring actor who was cast as Horshack’s street-tough cousin Howard. After a week of rehearsals, his character was cut out of the final script. The moment was a cruel blast of Hollywood disappointment: not being good enough to appear on a show that’s not good enough to air.
Horshack’s mother, Ellen Travolta, went on to star as Scott Baio’s TV mother three times (“Happy Days,” “Joanie Loves Chachi” and “Charles in Charge.”) Horshack’s little sister, Andrea McArdle, became “Little Orphan Annie” on Broadway. And Karger? Well, he wound up as the director of opposition research for Ronald Reagan’s reelection campaign.
Today he’s recasting himself on the national political stage, spending more than $25,000 a month in personal savings to fund a long-shot presidential bid predominantly aimed at repealing the federal Defense of Marriage Act and making gay marriage legal in all 50 states. Although he’s been taking campaign trips across the country, about half his time is devoted to making a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary.
“Anything is still possible,” the youthful 61-year-old Karger says in the dining room of his “New Hampshire White House,” a rented home in Manchester that doubles as campaign headquarters.
“New Hampshire can catapult you into the first tier,” he says, “and then the money starts flowing in. There’s an obvious lack of moderate, centrist Republicans in this race. I am it.”
http://thehill.com/capital-living/193827-welcome-back-karger