In the dog-eat-dog world of presidential politics, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s campaign has unabashedly turned to puppies for votes — not to mention Madagascar sportive lemurs and Janday conure parakeets.
The Gingrich campaign launched a website this week called
Pets With Newt and promoted it today on the campaign’s official Facebook page.
“Inspired by the many supporters and volunteers ‘with Newt’ who bring their pets to our campaign rallies and events, we’ve launched ‘Pets with Newt’!" declares the Facebook page.
“Are you a pet owner with Newt? Share a picture of you and your ‘pet with Newt’ today. 'Like' if you are a pet lover, too!,’” the post adds.
The Pets with Newt site featured 12 pets today, including what appears to be a black lab puppy named Duncan from Hinsdale, Ill., an orange tabby named Hank from Enola, Pa. and a Shih Tzu from Mifflintown, Pa., with a less than exotic name.
“I’m Stinky and I’m with Newt!,” the photo declares.
The candidate himself is pictured in a safari hat holding a Madagascar sportive lemur.
“Newt has liked animals and zoos since he was a little boy,” according to the site. “His relatives used to take him to the Hershey Zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.”
At age 10, young Gingrich made an appeal directly to the Harrisburg City Council in Pennsylvania to get a zoo for the state capital.
As a teen, Gingrich wanted to be either a zoo director or a vertebrate paleontologist, demonstrating a love for animals that would continue even as a college professor, where he coordinated an environmental studies program at West Georgia College.
“Newt and Callista visit zoos and museums everywhere they go. Newt has visited nearly 100 zoos around the world. Callista is catching up,” according to the site.
The website includes links to send in photos along with a link to Gingrich’s campaign website, a list of Newt and Callista Gingrich’s favorite zoos (San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park top the list) as well as a link to make a campaign contribution.
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