With less than favorable polling for his upcoming reelection bid, Democratic senator Jon Tester of Montana will be a top 2012 Republican target. In 2006, Tester narrowly bested Republican incumbent Conrad Burns by just over 3,000 votes, and a large part of Tester’s campaign against Burns–who was plagued by the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandals–was focused on the need to cut spending and end earmarks.
In a 2006 debate, Tester railed against earmarks that snuck through without scrutiny, and then went one step further. “Quite frankly, I don’t support earmarks, period,” the future senator said. Asked Wednesday by THE WEEKLY STANDARD about this quote, Tester first responded, “I haven’t eaten lunch yet,” before clarifying he is against earmarks “without transparency.” That’s a different tune from his 2006 debate statement that he was against all earmarks “period.”
