Anti-Armenian Republican to run for U.S. President

PanARMENIAN.Net - Republican Newt Gingrich sharply criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the U.S. economy as he launched an uphill battle for the presidency in 2012.

Gingrich, who was speaker of the House of Representatives in the 1990s, borrowed a signature phrase from Obama - "Win the future" - to lay out why Republicans should pick him as their presidential nominee.

"This is not about one person in the Oval Office. This is about millions of Americans believing we can win the future with the right policies leading to the right outcomes," he said.

Gingrich, who has long flirted with a run for the Republican presidential nomination, joined a slowly forming field of challengers to the Democratic president. He preached a conservative message of low taxes, a balanced budget, less government and more domestic production of oil.

"We have to make the argument that President Obama has the wrong policies and they lead to the wrong outcomes. It's pretty straightforward - 9 percent unemployment is the wrong outcome," he said, adding Obama's "worldview is very far to the left."

Gingrich, 67, is a conservative famed for budget battles with President Bill Clinton after he led the "Republican revolution" in 1994 elections that brought his party to power in Congress. He announced his candidacy via a YouTube video posted on his Twitter account, inviting potential supporters "to join us in getting America back on the right track" and tearing into Democrats, Reuters reported.

Gingrich is also known for his anti-Armenian views and attempts to block voting on the Armenian Genocide resolutions. The Armenian community numerously protested near his house calling on him to recognize the Armenian Genocide.