ST. PAUL -- In advance of tonight's convention activities that are meant to stress the theme of reform, Republican members held a press conference this afternoon at the Xcel Center promoting the McCain-Palin call for an earmark moratorium.

"In picking Gov. Palin, John McCain has said he will take on the Washington establishment," said Sen. Jim DeMint, adding "reform begins with wasteful spending."

The just-approved 2008 Republican Platform states:

"Earmarking must stop. To eliminate wasteful projects and payoffs to special interests, we will impose and immediate moratorium on the earmarking system and reform the appropriations process through full transparency. Tax dollars must be distributed on the basis of clear national priorities, not a politician's seniority or party position."

Both McCain and Palin have endorsed a moratorium on earmarks, the colloquial term for funding projects members attach to bills, often anonymously. McCain prides himself on his refusal to attach earmarks, while as governor Palin refused to accept federal money for the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere."

"McCain-Palin is a reformer's dream and a earmarker's nightmare," said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, chairman of the RSC.

Perhaps echoing a theme delegates will hear tonight, Hensarling said: "There is one person in this race who has vetoed earmarks and that's Sarah Palin."

Palin, however, has been criticized for previously supporting the "Bridge to Nowhere" as a gubernatorial candidate, and, as mayor of Wasilla, hiring a Washington lobbyist explicitly for acquiring earmarks.

In response to these charges, DeMint said many opponents of earmarks once supported them, only to learn the error of their ways. Considering the earmark-culture that typifies Alaska politics, said DeMint, "to change her mind on [earmarks] took more courage than many have."