The two Senate Democrats leading the economic stimulus debate have sent mixed messages on their evolving strategies, a dynamic that has frustrated Republicans but also could impede Democratic efforts to expand a House bill later this week.

The messaging reflects the tricky position facing Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who faces dual pressures from within his caucus even as the economy emerges as the top issue on voters’ minds.

“It’s a mixed situation, that’s why you got mixed messages,” said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who sits on the Finance Committee.

Privately, however, some Democratic aides say internal divisions led to a clumsy unveiling of the bill and have led to changing statements about floor strategy. They worry that Reid inadvertently may have given the Republicans the Democratic playbook, and as a result, could give the GOP a victory on the first high-profile fight of the year.

This is an argument that Republicans, who are working to prevent Democratic amendments from being added to the House bill, have picked up on.

“I’m confused about the Democratic strategy, and I imagine many Americans are,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who is in charge of Republican messaging. “I don’t think it’s likely to improve the Senate’s reputation.”

Wednesday votes over an economic stimulus plan appeared unlikely at press time with a partisan dispute over which amendments can be considered delaying progress on the measure. Complicating matters is that Democrats need presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) to return to Capitol Hill to vote in order for their measures to be approved, and will need to give them one day’s notice.

The mixed messages from Reid and Baucus began last week, when Reid predicted the Finance stimulus package crafted by Baucus would not get the 60 votes necessary under Senate rules to be approved. Reid then laid out a strategy in which Democrats would offer a series of alternative amendments to the House-passed bill.

Baucus, however, boldly predicted on Monday that the Finance measure would clear the 60-vote threshold needed to break a GOP filibuster, and insisted that there would be only one amendment. He said his committee’s plan, with some additions, would be offered as an amendment to the House bill.

One day later, Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Tuesday that Democrats were still shy of 60 votes.

Conflicting signals also were issued when Baucus unveiled his bill last week after long negotiations with the ranking Republican on Finance, Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), who has always worked closely with Baucus.

Reid issued a statement saying he “strongly” supported Baucus’s “efforts to garner bipartisan support,” but got an earful from Democrats at a closed-door policy meeting one day later over the decision by Baucus and Grassley to remove income caps that limited eligibility for tax rebates to poor and middle-class taxpayers. Reid told reporters later that removing the income caps made him want to “gag.”

At the onset of the negotiations between congressional leaders and the White House, some believed the Senate seemed likely to quickly accept whatever deal was worked out between the House and the Bush administration.

Even before the House deal was announced, however, staff members for Baucus and Grassley had started to negotiate the outlines of a rival Senate plan. Once the House reached a deal with the White House, the upper chamber insisted that it would take its own course, frustrating House Democrats.

“My perception, but it’s not fact, is that there were too many Democrats in the caucus that wanted their own input into it and Sen. Reid could not go along with just the House bill,” Grassley said.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, said the changes from the House bill to the Senate bill “reflect reality,” given bad economic news reflected in reports released over the last week. He also said more Republicans are interested in supporting the Democratic-led plan.

“Obviously, I reject that [mixed messages have been sent] and suggest it’s more just a changing situation,” Manley said.
Baucus said the fact that Reid signaled last week that there would be multiple votes is not hurting their strategy of drumming up GOP support around one broad amendment. “No, no no no. I think like a lot of things in life that the most recent iteration is the most valid,” Baucus said. “Senator Reid has made quite clear that we will have one vote.”

On Tuesday, the fight over the stimulus package brought the chamber to a standstill. At one point, the debate got so intense that Reid called a roll-call vote on a motion to instruct the sergeant at arms to bring senators to the chamber.

The Finance package supported by Baucus and Reid is a much broader measure than the White House-backed bill, approved overwhelmingly last month by the House. It expands eligibility for $500 rebate checks to low-income senior citizens and disabled veterans, and extends unemployment benefits for more than three months. It also adds an additional $5.5 billion for renewable energy tax credits, and would provide $1 billion for low-income people to pay for energy and heating costs.

Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and the Bush administration, after initially resisting changes to the House-passed bill, now say they are open to rebate checks for the elderly and senior citizens. But they are demanding that their alternative measure be considered, while Democrats insist the Finance package will be the only amendment to get a vote.

Republicans think Reid is bluffing and will allow alternative measures to be considered.

But Reid warned Republicans not to think his approach is bluster.

“Well, I think that if they think this is a bluff, wait until we have this vote and they’ll find out if it’s a bluff,” Reid said. “I’m not much of a bluffer.”