Gingrich Talks Romney, Michigan

(Wall Street Journal) - Newt Gingrich sought to raise the stakes in the upcoming Michigan Republican primary, saying that if native son Mitt Romney cannot win there, he will have a difficult time justifying his continued candidacy.

Gingrich told "FOX News Sunday" that if Romney loses Feb. 28 in the state where he grew up, "I don't see what he says the next morning to his donors to stay in the race."

Michigan was once thought to be a lock for Romney, owing to his family ties there. Romney grew up in the Detroit area, and his father was a popular governor in the 1960's. According to a Real Clear Politics average of recent polls, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is leading Romney by six percentage points.

Gingrich, a former House speaker from Georgia, said home turf pressure applies to each of the three candidates.

"If any of the three of us lose our home state -- if Santorum loses Pennsylvania, if Romney loses Michigan, or I lose Georgia -- you have I think a very, very badly leaking candidacy," he said.

The hard-fought Republican primary has prompted questions about whether there is a danger the eventual winner will be too bruised to successfully challenge President Barack Obama in the general election.

Republicans on Sunday's political shows disagreed about that, too.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the party's 2008 candidate, told ABC's "This Week" that he is concerned the tenor of the Republican primary may be indirectly helping Obama.

"I think there is reason to be concerned about it," said McCain. "I don't think I have seen one that was as personal and as characterized by so many attacks as these are."

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was not as concerned, saying Democrats were similarly divided between Obama and Hillary Clinton at this point in the last presidential election, and ended up winning.

Read more: Wall Street Journal