Top GOP Contenders Have Potential Weak Spots

At least four of the most prominent presidential hopefuls will have to get past potential Achilles’ heels that could damn them in voters’ eyes as they vie for the Republican nomination, USA Today says.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, now on his third marriage, has admitted being unfaithful to two of his wives. As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney signed a healthcare law that President Barack Obama often cites as he promotes his own healthcare legislation.

Another former governor, Arkansas’ Mike Huckabee, commuted the sentence of a prison inmate who went on to kill four police officers. And Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour faces questions about his work as a Washington lobbyist and could run into trouble on racial issues, the paper said.

"Going into this cycle, every candidate you can envision being the nominee has a real question they have to answer to Republican primary voters," former Republican Party National Chairman Ed Gillespie told USA Today.

"There's really not any one of the most significant candidates who doesn't have some issue that has to be addressed before they can capture the nomination," he said.