Who will be Mitt Romney’s VP? His new app will reveal the answer

Nowadays, most big political announcements come via the wire or Twitter, but the Romney presidential campaign aims to do things a bit differently.

The campaign announced an app for Android and iOS  today called Mitt’s VP that will unveil the identity of the presidential hopeful’s as-yet-unnamed running mate.

More interesting is that the app also promises its users that they’ll be the first to get the announcement, which is a lofty claim in the era of social media.

There’s also one big caveat:  The app requires that users either sign in through Facebook or create a MyMitt account, the latter of which will add you to the Romney campaign’s contact list.

Romney, however, isn’t breaking new ground here. President Obama tried a similar experiment during the 2008 presidential election when he used text messaging to announce then-Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. That news, however, was leaked hours before by intrepid reporters, proving that not even push notifications can beat a good scoop.

The Romney campaign has had a mixed record when it comes to app execution. Its most high-profile tech blunder came in May when news spread that its “With Mitt” app had somehow misspelled the word “America.” Hopefully Mitt’s VP avoids a similarly embarrassing fate.

Not to be outdone by its competition, the Obama campaign also announced today its new Obama for America app, making Tuesday a big day for political app announcements.

Photo: Maria Dryfhout/ Shutterstock.com