Gingrich understands the internet more than the common newt (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Oh, Newt, you're trying so hard:
Trying to tap into the spontaneity of Twitter and Facebook, Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, will announce his campaign for the Republican nomination for president on Wednesday by way of the two popular social networking sites, his spokesman, Rick Tyler, said in a Twitter post on Monday.
After Tweeting his heart out, Newt will face a grilling from journomalist Sean Hannity at Fox News, and then he'll give a speech on Friday. Today's announcement feels like the fifty-millionth pseudo-launch of Gingrich's campaign, yet I still don't think anybody gives a damn.
Gingrich's campaign hasn't exactly been smooth so far. Remember earlier this year when he first launched his campaign using stock photos on his website? And then his campaign took 24 hours to respond to a story about how his campaign was not well-suited to speed of the internet era.
And let's not forget the mass-scrubbing of Newt's Twitter archives, including his infamous tweets about eating at Shabu-Shabu and calling Sonia Sotomayor a "Latino woman racist."
But most of all, Newt's biggest problem goes back to the reason he keeps on re-announcing his presidential campaign: nobody seems to care that he's running, and most of those who do don't like him. Even in the GOP, nearly half of voters don't have an opinion of him, and he's got an unfavorable rating from one-third of those who do. And, not surprisingly, Republican women hold him in much lower regard than Republican men.
If there's any good news here for Newt, it's that there's probably no truth to the speculation that he'll also be announcing wife number 4.