Considering a run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum visited New Hampshire on Monday. As part of his pursuit to angle himself as the tea party candidate in the field, Santorum waded into a topic increasingly popular among the GOP base: a ban on earmarks in Congress.

Earmarks — amendments that allow politicians to designate funds for specific projects in their home districts — only account for a small portion of the federal budget but have come to be seen as a symbol of government waste.

Santorum spent two terms in the Senate representing Pennsylvania, and he certainly earmarked projects for his home state during his tenure in office. But now that the winds of the GOP have shifted and he considers higher office, Santorum has reformed his position. Allentown, Pa., newspaper Morning Call reports:

“I feel like I’m at an AA meeting, ” Santorum told a room of local Rotary Club members. “Hi, I’m Rick, and I was an earmarker.”

[...]

“I think the American public has spoken and they don’t want Congress doing it,” Santorum told his New Hampshire audience. “And my feeling is that if the American people believe that this is an element of whether we can trust you or not, we have to show that we want their trust, so I’m absolutely for banning earmarks.”

A moratorium on earmarks failed to pass the Senate on Tuesday. The proposal — which Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn tried to attach as an amendment to a food safety bill — failed by a 39-56 vote margin. The Senate Republicans were joined seven Democrats supporting the measure, but eight members departed from the GOP caucus to oppose the amendment. The Republicans opposing the measure were Sens. Bob Bennett, Thad Cochran, Susan Collins, James Inhofe, Lisa Murkowski, Richard Lugar, Richard Shelby and George Voinovich.

The recent debate surrounding earmarks came close to damaging one of Santorum’s potential 2012 rivals. Before the closed door vote for Sen. Jim DeMint’s voluntary ban on earmarks from members of the Republican Conference, it was suggested that South Dakota Sen. John Thune opposed the proposal and had been attempting to convince other senators to vote against the plan. Thune’s office argued against those claims at the time, and in Tuesday’s public vote, Thune supported the ban on earmarks.

It was significantly easier for Santorum to switch his stance on earmarks since he no longer serves in an elected position. Many of the top-name 2012 aspirants such as Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich are also former politicians who can easily fall in line with the de facto Republican position of the day without being forced to back up their statements with actual votes. That divide between these former politicians and other possible candidates such as Thune or current Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels could become wider and more pronounced as primary season kicks into full gear next spring.

[h/t Ben Smith]