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Between 2003 and 2009, Republican Sen. Arlen Specter obtained nearly $10 million in earmarks for abstinence education.
Since switching parties last spring, Specter hasn't sought a dime in earmarks for abstinence education -- a dramatic reversal that critics describe as a case study in the cynical politics of pork-barrel spending.
As an abortion-rights Republican facing primary challenges from the right, Specter could use the abstinence education earmarks to show social conservatives in his party that he was sensitive to their concerns. But as a relatively conservative Democrat, he doesn't have to worry about a challenge from the right -- and has to be careful not to offend liberals, who generally prefer a broader approach to sex education.
"It really is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of the raw politics behind earmarks," said Steve Ellis, vice president of the government watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. "Once he becomes a pro-choice Democrat, [the social conservative bloc] becomes a constituency that's not as important to get earmarks" for.
Specter's office said the senator stopped seeking earmarks to fund nongovernmental abstinence education programs because of the difficult economy and because the state of Pennsylvania has begun accepting other federal funds for abstinence education.
But Specter's move away from abstinence-only earmarks is also consistent with a broader swing to the left as he faces down a primary challenge from a more liberal Democrat, Rep. Joe Sestak.
Over the past 10 months, Specter has come out in favor of the union-backed Employee Free Choice Act, opposed a troop buildup in Afghanistan and reversed his opposition to the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to lead the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel.
The leftward tilt has Specter taking fire from both directions.
A Sestak spokesman said Specter's "willingness to reposition himself just for political purposes should give pause to Pennsylvanians who are looking for a loyal senator who will put principle over politics." And a spokeswoman for former Rep. Pat Toomey -- Specter's likely 2010 Republican challenger -- said it's clear that Specter "stands for nothing except the preservation of his own political career."
Specter amped up his earmarks for abstinence education in 2003, a year after Pennsylvania first declined Title V funding -- money set aside exclusively for abstinence-only programs.
But those requests also came as Specter faced a tough GOP primary fight against Toomey, an ideological conservative with strong support among the Republican base.
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