Republican Sen. Has To Stand Behind Stem Cell Research Funding To win Election

The 2008 Republican presidential candidate will have to stand behind stem cell research funding or lose the election, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Sunday.

Specter told CBS' "Face the Nation" the Tennessee Republican's stance "will be helpful" to him in a presidential bid.

"Republicans want to nominate somebody who can be re-elected," Specter said. "And I think the way the matter is pending now, I don't think a presidential candidate opposed to stem cells could be elected."

Taking the opposite view, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., a possible presidential candidate in 2008, said any federal funding for embryonic stem cell research could begin a slippery slope towards human cloning for research or other purposes. Brownback said many Americans see it that way.


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