It was dignity for dollars, or karaoke night Tuesday at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) headquarters.

The thirst for political money is so great, the DCCC had some of its most endangered incumbents sing for their dollars before lobbyists, PAC people and other donors at the building that houses the Democratic National Committee and the DCCC.

The setup — TV, microphone, disc jockey, a riser, the works — transformed the first-floor conference room into a karaoke bar. It was a kickoff gala for the DCCC’s “Frontline” candidates, the main GOP targets on the short list of DCCC chief Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.). Each donor was asked to write a $250 check to each of 10 Frontline contenders. Emanuel is making the Frontliners sign a contract — not legally enforceable — with performance marks to keep the status. In turn, they get money and other help. But they have to sing for their supper.

Emanuel and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) did not sing before their donors. Rep. Stephanie Herseth (D-S.D.) hit the microphone as Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.), who knocked off Rep. Phil Crane (R-Ill.) last year, did her thing to singer Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”

Speaking of music … that big Democratic rally Tuesday at a park near the Capitol to protest President Bush’s plan to create individual investment accounts drew about 120 Dem House and Senate members, who marched in led by their leadership. In contrast to congressional Republicans, the Dems have stayed on message and have presented an iron wall of unity since Bush started talking about allowing a small portion of Social Security taxes to be diverted to private, or personal, investment accounts.

The rally ended on a defiant note — to the music of rocker Tom Petty’s signature hit “I Won’t Back Down.”

Dems were circulating a poll by Peter D. Hart Research Associates that shows what Republicans have at stake in the Social Security debate.

“Support for the Bush Social Security proposals by a member of Congress yields a net electoral loss of 24 percentage points,” conclude pollsters Guy Molyneux and Geoffrey Garin. Hart polled 811 voters April 15-19, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent. Some 19 percent “are more likely to vote for a candidate who sides with the president, and 43 percent are less likely.”

Another poll finding that gives Dem leaders mapping strategy some ammunition: “By 58 percent to 32 percent, voters say the Democrats in Congress are raising legitimate concerns about Bush’s Social Security proposals, not making unfair political attacks.”

Pelosi on ethics staffing. As Republicans weigh whether to roll back an ethics committee rules package tailored for beleaguered House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), Pelosi is pushing again for staff parity. With House GOPers poised to reverse themselves on the rules changes — to stop the bleeding — Pelosi released a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) she wrote two weeks ago.

Because of all the attention given to changes that catered to DeLay’s possible ethics problems, less focus has been on what Pelosi said in the letter was “an equally radical change in the Committee’s staffing that has been proposed by Chairman Hastings,” a reference to Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), newly installed by Hastert as committee chairman. Pelosi sees the arrangement as giving GOP staff more power. The panel and staff before the changes that gave GOP the upper hand were more even.

Is that Tom Petty singing in the background?

Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it