Gingrich warns of likely election pitfalls

WASHINGTON, June 15 (UPI) -- Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Sunday the Republican Party may lose the general election if it attacks Barack Obama's experience.

Gingrich said during an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday that Republicans will be unsuccessful if they attempt to discredit the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee based on his level of political experience.

"It won't work, it's a mistake," the former House GOP leader said of such potential electoral attacks.

Yet Gingrich did say that the one-term U.S. senator from Illinois could be attacked successfully during the general election if Republicans focus on his policies and background.

"The country may reject Senator Obama because of his relationship to (the) Rev. (Jeremiah) Wright and his relationship to the hard left, to William Ayres, and because his policies include tax increases, and because there are some big decisions coming on energy, on education, on the court," he on the CBS news program. "And Senator Obama may turn out to represent a position so far to the left, the country won't tolerate it."