Beyond the Dome

No matter what happens in the Pennsylvania primary tonight, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton will have to practice their awkward chitchat -- because they just might run into each other on the Senate floor tomorrow.

Both say they're likely to return to the Senate for a procedural vote Wednesday on a bill that would make it easier to sue employers for wage discrimination. Democrats have made the legislation a priority ever since the Supreme Court ruled last year against a woman suing a Goodyear tire plant that for several years kept her salary 15 percent lower than that of her male coworkers.

"This pay gap is an ugly reflection of the discrimination that still exists in the workplace," Obama said in a statement this morning. "That’s why tomorrow, I will vote for the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to overturn an unfair Supreme Court decision and ensure that workers can seek a remedy for any paycheck that reflects pay discrimination, no matter when they received it." (Ledbetter was the plaintiff's name in the Goodyear suit.)

Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines confirmed she plans to return for the vote as well.

Both Obama and Clinton are cosponsors of the Fair Pay Restoration Act, which Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts introduced. It would allow workers to sue employers for pay discrimination regardless of how long ago it occurred, overturning an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission policy -- cited by the Supreme Court -- that says any lawsuit arising from a pay discrimination claim has to be filed within 180 days of the plaintiff's discovery of the alleged abuse. The House passed a similar bill in late July.

The bill may well stop there, since it's not clear that the Senate will get the 60 votes it needs to actually debate the measure. And even if Congress were to pass the bill, the Bush administration is threatening to veto it.

But in the thick of a grinding primary season, Obama and Clinton aren't about to skip a vote that could win them crucial support among Democratic voters. Of course, knowing the Senate, there's always the chance that the vote could slip, and one or both candidates might not be able to make it.

John McCain won't be there for the vote, his Senate office says. Hardly a surprise, since many of his Republican colleagues are likely to oppose the bill and it's hard to see what he'd gain by coming off the campaign trail. But he'll likely get pressed on his position on the measure -- especially as he winds up his present tour through less advantaged communities, facing what he calls "a long hard road" back to prosperity.