Democrats find an issue worth fighting for

Congressional Democrats have been terribly skittish for the last year and a half, or so. They desperately want to pick issues that will resonate with voters without bringing attention to their weaknesses or their opponents’ strengths. Truth be told, it’s kind of sad to watch.

So they’re meandering around, looking for a salient issue. Iraq has no WMD? That’s no good, voters trust the Republicans on foreign policy. Ridiculous tax cuts for the wealthy? No, we’ll get accused of “class warfare.” The environment? Limited national appeal. Education? Too many of us went along with the Bush education plan in 2001.

It’s like a chess player who uses an entirely defensive strategy — waiting for his opponent to make a mistake before making an aggressive move. Fortunately, the GOP made a mistake that Dems finally believe they can capitalize on.

When Republicans limited the tax credit for children so that 12 million low-income families would not enjoy the same tax break middle- and upper-income families got, Dems saw the mistake they were waiting for. They immediately moved to correct this injustice and position themselves as the party that champions working families, as opposed to the GOP’s efforts on behalf of millionaires and billionaires.

And when Tom DeLay essentially said he didn’t care about fixing the discrepancy, Dems went ballistic.

As the Washington Post noted yesterday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a news release titled “DeLay: Qu’ils mangent de la brioche,” or “let them eat cake.” John Edwards (D-N.C.) said Bush should tell House Speaker Dennis Hastert “to keep the House in session, 24 hours a day…until this bill is passed.” Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) said DeLay and Bush “are probably hoping this embarrassment will go away and go away quickly. But it won’t.”

The Senate, showing unusual swiftness, voted yesterday on a Democratic initiative to give the working poor the same child tax credit that other families will get. It passed 94-2. (The two were Sens. Don Nickles and James Inhofe, both Republicans from Oklahoma)

Republicans, being Republicans, couldn’t just go along with the Dems’ plan as is. The Senate GOP insisted that the “correction” also include a provision that would extend the child credit eligibility to families with income up to $150,000 (it’s at $110,000 now).

Fortunately for the Dems, the House GOP appears unwilling to follow their brethren in the Senate. Rep. Jim McCrery (La.), one of the top Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee, said he would “stand and fight” against the expanded child credit.

Dems appear to have finally found an issue they don’t mind raising a fuss over. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters yesterday, “We are determined to make this issue too hot for the Republicans to handle.”

It’s nice to see congressional Democrats showing a little toughness now and again. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the House.