Newt Gingrich announced through
Twitter yesterday that he is officially launching a run for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination. The
Seattle Times reports that his campaign is likely to focus on his new found interest in religion in laying out his fiscally and socially conservative agenda. It is expected that in his formal announcement speech at the Georgia Republican Party convention on Friday, Gingrich will tie together the concepts of American exceptionalism and God-endowed rights. The article explains:
The strategy is aimed at shoring up Gingrich's standing with the party's social conservative wing, a constituency that regarded him with suspicion, in part because of his three marriages and admission of an extramarital affair.
But in recent years, the former speaker has made gains among evangelical leaders, the result of aggressively cultivating relationships with influential national figures and local pastors in key nominating states.
Gingrich, who was raised a Lutheran and became a Southern Baptist when he entered politics, converted two years ago to the Roman Catholic faith of his third wife, Callista, an experience he said shaped his new focus on faith. Since then, he created a nonprofit organization aimed at religious conservatives, Renewing American Leadership....
