NEW YORK — South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has been the leading voice among Republican governors who have criticized President Barack Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus plan as a pork-laden boondoggle that will plunge the country further into debt. It's won him praise from many conservatives and boosted his national profile, fueling speculation he will run for president in 2012.

But the governor's announcement this week that he may reject nearly a quarter of the money headed to South Carolina has stirred criticism in the state and elsewhere that he has placed his own political future ahead of the needs of the state's most vulnerable citizens.

"Mark Sanford is putting his personal ambition ahead of the people of South Carolina by kowtowing to the Rush Limbaugh-led, obstructionist wing of the Republican Party," DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said.

Even Democratic governors got in the game, with Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley issuing a statement decrying Sanford's "fringe" stance.