Family Life

05.12.11 | Sarah Harnisch

   Newt Gingrich made it official Wednesday that he is running for President in 2012. The question is-- will he get the votes of people of faith? He has a sordid past; he left 2 of his ex-wives when they had serious illnesses-- M.S. and cancer. His wife now, Callista, is 22 years younger then he is, and their affair lasted while he was married to his second wife, while he was Speaker of the House, and while he called out former President Bill Clinton on his affair with Monica Lewinski. When asked if his marital history would affect this campaign, he said "sure it will."
   Gingrich has set up a group called "Renewing American Leadership", which the sole purpose of wooeing the Evangelical vote. The group is run by Rick Tyler, who has been Gingrich's spokesman for ten years. He says the faithful will see Gingrich's sins and look at what he's fighting for. Tyler told NBC "I talk to pastors all the time, and I don't think there's any doubt, they find him to be generall repentant of past failures." Analysts say he'll have a lot of work to do if he wants to win the presidency, though. One said he'll have to "be transparent, be authentic, be humble about it, and you have to show growth and maturity-- you have to show 'I've grown, I've matured.' "