Awwww…. Newt wants us to see him as a big softy:

Forget the back and forth attacks with Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich’s campaign has decided to take another route on his bid to the Republican nomination: pets and music.

The campaign said today that it will soon launch a “Pets With Newt” site aimed at Gingrich’s love for animals, intended to show a “lighter side” of the candidate. “As speaker I made it possible for people in public housing to keep their pets in 1988. I love pets so we’re going to have an entire project,” Gingrich said.

I’ve seen a lot of sites covering this story, but none have seemed to pick up on one thing there. I don’t know if it’s a typo from the original ABC article, or if Newt is having some serious dementia, but in 1988 Newt was just a congressman. He became minority whip in 1989 and then was Speaker from 1995-1999.

I tried to find the legislation he is talking about but haven’t been able to. It’s quiet possible that it is a typo on ABC’s part, but some clarity would be nice here. Of course Gingrich has tried to claim he helped “defeat communism”, so maybe he is extending his tenure as Speaker into the prior decade as well.