Robert Novak has a two-part scoop concerning Fred Thompson this week. Part 1 is that Thompson will officially open his campaign with a video that will surely spread throughout the Internet and Part 2 that non other than Newt Gingrich, who is rumored to be considering a bid himself, gave the actor/former Senator the idea.

The larger implication of Novak’s scoop is that Gingrich may well be a part of any Thompson run. The sad part about the story is that Thompson or any Republican needs to be told to put a video online. Most of the Democrats opened their campaigns with online videos as well as speeches and the idea, at this point, just seems like commonsense for anyone running and wanting to court the younger generation.