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Offense and defense

by The Hill Editors - 09/25/08 7:17 PM ET

Without doubt, congressional Democrats are playing offense on the campaign trail. Both the House and Senate Democratic campaign committees have more cash to play with than their Republican counterparts. And the mood of the country — and the map — favors Democrats.

But legislatively, Democrats have been playing a bit of defense.

For the first time since 1994, Democrats have control of both the House and Senate floors in an election year.

Two years ago, the GOP-led Congress used the summer and fall to vote on popular Republican bills, including measures on combating terrorism, repealing the estate tax and enhancing border security. The votes put vulnerable Democrats in a very difficult position.

Yet Democrats have taken a different approach.

Knowing President Bush had the upper hand on the budget in the wake of last year’s showdown, Democrats punted on the budget and gave up hopes of ending the Iraq war until next year.

Amid high gas prices over the summer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) shifted her caucus’s position on drilling.

Feeling political pressure from the National Rifle Association, House Democrats this month scheduled a vote on a gun rights bill.

There had been widespread speculation that Democrats would schedule another vote on their popular State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) bill. Some people thought that enough Republicans would change their mind that Democrats could get enough votes to override President Bush’s veto.

That would have been good news as well as bad news for Democrats, because the flip-floppers would most likely be politically vulnerable GOP members.

Democrats opted to use SCHIP as a political weapon, hoping that it will be one of the first bills a President Obama will sign into law.

It should be noted that Democrats have touted a second economic stimulus, which Republicans do not support. House Democrats have recently passed education legislation and a credit cardholders’ “bill of rights.”

But there are many conservative Democrats, especially in the House, who needed some political cover heading into the Nov. 4 election. Liberals don’t like it, but Pelosi provided that cover on the war, budget, energy and guns.

Most of the committee chairmen are liberal-leaning, but they went along with Pelosi’s plan. Like Pelosi, the so-called “old bulls” have their eyes on the prize: more Democrats in Congress next year.