If there was any doubt that the White House strongly supports legislation to make it easier for women to sue over unequal pay, clarity was provided on Monday by President Obama himself. He jumped on a routine conference call with reporters to push the measure, known as the Paycheck Fairness Act, saying, “I don’t have to tell you how much this matters to families across the country.”
One of his key deputies, Valerie Jarrett, also made the conference call rounds and appeared to open a Twitter account Monday for the purpose of promoting the bill.
It was an unusual example of all-hands-on-deck coordination between the White House and Congressional Democrats in advance of a key procedural vote on the paycheck legislation set for Tuesday. It also represented a serious effort to develop a consistent message at a time of increasing economic turmoil and mounting political anxiety.
By contrast, Congressional Republicans — even those who are something short of elated about Mitt Romney’s presidential candidacy — have managed to coordinate with his campaign on the major issues of the day, centered on Speaker John A. Boehner’s catchphrase, “Where are the jobs?”
For instance, while Republicans in Congress virtually unanimously support a vote to continue the Bush-era tax cuts for all earners, the White House has called for higher taxes on households with more than $250,000 in income.
But Congressional Democrats cannot seem to decide whether they favor Mr. Obama’s threshold or a $1 million cap first proposed by Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York in 2010.
Republicans are almost wholly unified on the push for an extension of the Keystone XL pipeline — something Mr. Romney has also supported — but Democrats are divided over the issue.
While Republicans are gaining unity in their fight against looming cuts to the Pentagon, it is not clear that Democrats are working together to maintain the cuts, which Mr. Obama has said must stay in place in the absence of an acceptable compromise on taxes and spending.
A bill to ease regulations on start-up companies, one strongly supported by Mr. Obama, divided Democrats.
Further, while Congressional Democrats have created a legislative agenda that revolves around women — taking on domestic violence, contraception issues and paycheck fairness — they have also begun to complain about Mr. Obama’s focus on that very agenda, saying it should be more concentrated on jobs and the economy.
“Obviously there are choices to make,” said Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, when asked about the paycheck fairness bill, which he supports. “I don’t feel that you pursue this setting aside other concerns. I continue to make the case to the administration that they ought to be pulling out all the stops for tax reform,” adding that it appeals to both parties.
The White House is clearly aware of the problem. Mr. Obama tried on Monday to frame the issue of paycheck inequity between men and women as one that has direct impact on the economy. “This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class,” he said. “Congress has to stand up and do its job.”
Republican unity of course has not been a theme of the 112th Congress. The party continues to fight over its support for things like the continuation of payroll tax breaks and student loan bill rate extensions and transportation financing. But when it comes to pushing an overarching message with their presidential candidate, they may be ahead for now.
Sometimes, this is accomplished with this Congress as much as by what members do not say as by what they do.
For instance, Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who has led the charge to build a more conservative Republican Senate presence, opposes an extension of a lower student loan rate. But Mr. DeMint recently praised Mr. Romney for remaining supportive of the loan-rate extension, arguing that it kept him from getting mouse trapped by Democrats.
Democrats have been relying on legislation concerning women’s issues as an anchor all spring, jamming Republicans on votes concerning domestic violence, contraception and other matters. Republicans have scrambled to respond, forming a Republican women’s policy caucus or trying to cobble together their own counter legislation.
The paycheck legislation seems to have vexed the Romney campaign — Mr. Romney will not state clearly whether he supports it.
“Of course Governor Romney supports pay equity for women,” said Amanda Henneberg, a campaign spokeswoman. “In order to have pay equity, women need to have jobs, and they have been getting crushed in this anemic Obama economy, losing far more jobs than men.”
The idea of paycheck fairness legislation — which builds on the Equal Pay Act of 1963 — would bar employers from retaliating against women who seek to learn their co-workers’ pay and opens up more pathways for seeking punitive damages against employers found to discriminate, by way of the paycheck, against women.
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