A particularly sad press release was sent out by the Newt Gingrich campaign on Tuesday morning: "Weather Report Leads to Zoo Trip Cancellation."
Gingrich was scheduled to visit the zoo in Birmingham, Ala. at 2:15 p.m., as he campaigns in the state ahead of Tuesday's primary election.
According to the campaign's press release, the outing was cancelled "as a precaution after reviewing weather reports." (Weather.com, however, predicts Birmingham will be 74 degrees with a 10 percent chance of precipitation at 2:00.)
The zoo may seem like an odd election-day stop for a presidential candidate, but Gingrich is a long-time animal- and zoo-lover.
As a young boy in Pennsylvania, Gingrich went to the city hall in Harrisburg and told the council that the city needed a zoo. His efforts weren't successful, but that day, according to the Washington Post, "a political activist and agent of change was born."
Last year, while the other candidates were preparing for a debate in Iowa, Gingrich instead went and visited an 85-year-old tortoise at the Des Moines zoo.
While on the West Coast last month, meanwhile, Gingrich made an unscheduled stop at the famous San Diego Zoo and visited a panda.
Some of Gingrich's moments with animals:
