The President said he’d fight for middle-class people like me, and he kept his promise

[TiberiusB]

42. All salient points, but not exactly what I was asking..

I was aware of his campaign promises, and the co-sponsorship of the bill, but I was more curious if there was actually any battle to get this through Congress in time for his inauguration (or shortly thereafter, actually). It seemed to struggle right up until the Fall of 2008, and then it suddenly broke through. Was any horse trading involved, or was Obama's enormous popularity and ascension to the White House enough to win the needed votes?

The House passed the bill on the 27th, with a slightly odd "swap" between the GOP and the Democrats.

House Republicans that voted for passage:

Ed Whitfield (Kentucky)
Don Young (Alaska)
Chris Smith (New Jersey)

House Democrats that voted against it:

Travis Childers (Mississippi)
Allen Boyd (Florida)
Parker Griffith (Alabama)

So, effectively, the 3 members of each party that voted with the other team cancelled each other out, accomplishing nothing. Was it known that three Democrats were going to jump ship and so three Republicans were pursued to offset the loss? The bill would have passed regardless, so it's just a minor oddity.

The Senate is the more curious vote, with the bill passing, 61-36.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2009-14

Five Republicans voted for the bill, effectively providing the margin for a filibuster proof victory (no Democrats voted against the bill in the Senate, as far as I know). Why the change? Even then, the GOP was staunchly against passing pretty much anything populist, or that might benefit the Democrats.

My impression, and that's all it is, really, is that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was seen as a possible early "slam dunk" for our new President and a chance to give him a bit of an early wind in his sails. That being the case, a modest push was put into play in Congress to wrap up the needed votes and get the bill to the President's desk ASAP before the inevitable partisan bickering had a chance to drag down his momentum.