Newt Gingrich Attacked By Digital Vandals

In the latest act of online political sabotage, individuals who type newtgingrich.com into their browsers will be directed to one of a number of sites that are embarrassing to Republican primary candidate Newt Gingrich.

Instead of finding a homepage for Gingrichs campaign, which is hosted at newt.org, visitors are redirected to sites like Tiffany & Co. (where Gingrich has a six-figure tab) or Freddie Mac (where Gingrichs role as historian has been called into question), or to news articles and YouTube videos that make conservative voters cringe, like this ad for former Vice President Al Gores Alliance for Climate Protection. In the ad, Gingrich appears cozying up next to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to talk about climate change.

Its uncertain whos behind the mischief, which is the digital equivalent of supporters of one politician vandalizingthe lawn signs of an opponent in the dark of night. The newtgingrich.com domain is privately registered, so the owners information is not readily accessible.

Gingrichs campaign wasnt immediately available for comment.

Two weeks ago, rickperry.com was redirecting to Ron Pauls campaign website. That domain no longer redirects and is now up for sale, but the current owners information is also private.

Both of these campaigns have been caught with their digital pants around their ankles. Many Internet users still consider the .com suffix to be standard. By failing to acquire these domains, Gingrich and Perry left themselves vulnerable to attack by digital vandals, who are taking advantage of anyone making the assumption that a candidates homepage will be their name followed by .com.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, jcamilobernal

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