In the race for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination, few have put their names forth as actual candidates. Many are still waiting to see what the others do, or feel it’s too early. So the roster is thin so far. Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House, has dithered his way to a website, NewtExplore2012.com, but not without thoroughly confusing many. This sense of disarray is captured by a headline by Gawker.com’s Jim Newell, which reads: “Gingrich Is (Kind Of) Running For President”. Are the mishaps that have marked the beginning of a potential run omens as to how well he may perform? Let’s take a look at some of the things that have not been so pleasant so far, and see what they may mean for the future. The significant issues so far are the negative feedback he has received, his website problems, and the lack of clarity as to what exactly he was announcing.
As far as feedback goes, it’s apparent that Speaker Gingrich’s exploration has not received universal acclaim. Governor Haley of South Carolina, whose endorsement would be critical in the early primary state, said that “There was a place and time for him”, which, according to Politico.com’s Jonathan Martin, “succinctly captures the GOP conventional wisdom regarding Newt’s candidacy”. The problem is that Speaker Gingrich, who has been thinking about running even in past cycles, reached his peak in the Clinton years and has faded since then. Furthermore, his past is not exactly pleasant, either. He resigned the Speakership, was responsible for shutting down the government, has been married thrice, and has had his share of fidelity problems. In a time when the GOP is looking for new energy, he does not seem like the favored choice (indeed, polls show that he is hovering around the 10% mark).
Speaking of the wrong choice, though, what happens if you type in ExploreNewt2012.com rather than NewtExplore2012.com? You get the website for former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, who’s also exploring a run for President. This is yet another incident that has damaged Gingrich’s initial foray. As for Gingrich’s actual website, it has little content, boldly asking you to donate without even telling you more about Gingrich’s vision for the future or why he’d be the most electable candidate. And that’s not even the start of Gingrich’s website problems. Far more prominent was his choice usage of a stock photo of diverse Americans holding flags behind a picture of the former speaker and his wife. What is so embarrassing about using a stock photo? It doesn’t help that the late Sen. Kennedy had already used it, and the picture has already led to a website featuring the Gingrich couple in front of absurd stock photos in its place. Gingrich has had rallies before; were they inadequately diverse? And if so, will Gingrich struggle to attract minority voters?
And, while we ponder over these questions, let’s remember the biggest question mark of last week: what is Gingrich announcing, and why do the messages from his camp keep changing? First we heard that he was announcing the formation of an exploratory committee, then we heard that he was not, and finally, we discovered that he technically wasn’t, but was, sort of: he created the aforementioned website, which does not exactly provide much more information in and of itself. So the former Speaker is exploring a run – we think – but his constant vacillations and not-so-definitive steps in that direction give us the impression that his candidacy will teeter and wobble its way to a free-fall.
For more on the problematic start to Speaker Gingrich’s candidacy, check out “Newt Gingrich’s rough week” by Alexander Burns of Politico.com.
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Newt_Gingrich_CPAC_2011_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg.