Georgia: Gingrich announces bid for presidency; Candidate has spent months raising money

By Shannon McCaffrey Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) -- Newt Gingrich is running for president. The former House speaker disclosed his bid on Twitter and Facebook on Monday and urged followers to tune into Fox News on Wednesday. "I will be on to talk about my run for president of the United States," Gingrich wrote after spending a year or more publicly laying the groundwork for a GOP presidential candidacy. "I have been humbled by all the encouragement you have given me to run." The move was hardly a surprise; Gingrich has spent months raising money, assembling a campaign team and visiting early primary states. He also quietly opened a campaign headquarters in Atlanta, and had long been scheduled to address the Georgia Republican Party Convention on Friday in Macon, Ga. Aides say that will be his first speech as a full-fledged candidate. Gingrich, 67, enters a Republican field that's far from fully formed; no less than a dozen Republicans are weighing bids and only a few have taken steps toward candidacies. It's a crop of candidates that has many in the Republican Party yearning for more options as they seek the strongest candidate to take on President Barack Obama in 2012. Besides high name recognition, Gingrich brings to the race a slew of policy ideas, a network of grass-roots support and a political machine years in the making. But his personal baggage -- he's on his third marriage -- could hinder his chances as he seeks to woo conservatives who make up the core of the GOP primary electorate. His entry into the race marks a comeback attempt more than a decade after leaving political office. The conservative former Georgia congressman rose to power after leading the GOP to its first majority in the House in 40 years, spearheading the Republican revolution in the 1994 elections and pledging to adhere to his party's "Contract with America." Once at the top of the House, he challenged the first-term Democratic president, Bill Clinton, at every turn. A spending fight between Gingrich and Clinton led to federal government shutdowns in 1995 and 1996, and Gingrich watched his popularity fall. He stepped down from the House in 1999. Since then, he's traveled the world speaking on issues from health care to foreign affairs. Published: Tue, May 10, 2011