Murdoch Tweets That He Likes Santorum Surge

Rupert Murdoch joined the Twittersphere to start off the new year, and one of his first tweets was a shout-out to Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum.

“Good to see santorum surging in Iowa. Regardless of policies, all debates showed principles, consistency and humility like no other,” the international media mogul tweeted from @rupertmurdoch, the Twitter account he opened on the last day of 2011.

The reference was to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum’s push before the Iowa caucuses Tuesday. A new Des Moines Register poll during the weekend put Santorum at 15 percent, trailing former Massachusetts’ Gov. Mitt Romney’s 24 percent and Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s 22 percent. Political observers say Santorum’s ground game in the Hawkeye State has given him even more momentum than the poll reflects.

Murdoch, who already has almost 40,000 Twitter followers, according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, sent tweets not only about politics but also movies, how he spent his holidays, and, in a few instances, to plug his companies.

A sampling of Murdoch’s initial tweets:

• “My resolutions, try to maintain humility and always curiosity. And of course diet!”
• “Great oped in WSJ today on Ron Paul. Huge appeal of libertarian message.”
• “Saw Fox film Descendants. Thank God, one to be proud of. Star Geo Clooney deserves Oscar, maybe film too.”
• “I LOVE the film "we bought a zoo", a great family movie. Very proud of fox team who made this great film.”
• “Great to see Mike Bloomberg getting some rewards for being New York's best mayor in memory!”