The White House and Senate Democratic leadership has been out to paint the Senate GOP as a middle-class killer. The latest round of punches came after Senate Republicans voted, almost unanimously, to turn down an extension of Obama’s payroll tax cut (a rival Republican bill was similarly rebuked). The tax cut has been putting an extra $1,000 in the pockets of middle class Americans, but is slated to expire at the end of this year. However, some Senate Republicans are fighting back, proposing an alternative to the payroll tax cut; a tax credit.

Although it’s unlikely it will be submitted to Majority Leader Harry Reid when he proposes his own revamped payroll tax holiday plan, some Senate Republicans have been meeting and discussing it. A successful alternative like a tax credit could help to combat the recent black eyes dealt by the White House, and close some divisions within the Senate Republican caucus over the payroll tax holiday. The problem with a payroll tax cut is that Social Security is largely supported by payroll tax revenue. Collecting less in payroll taxes equates to cutting the Social Security Trust Fund. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said it was, “robbing seniors to pay for tax cuts that can be done with a tax credit.”

Although many of the Republican Senators are not jumping on board the alternative tax plan, many, including Pat Toomey (R-PA), Rob Portman (R-SC), and Richard Burr (R-NC) have endorsed the idea. Others are favorable, but distant. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) told POLITICO, “Of the two, [the income tax credit] would be the better thing to do. It’s cleaner. I don’t know that I’d vote for it, but I think it’s the better of the two solutions.”

As with many of the policy decision-making process, much of this comes down to legislating in the run-up to an election year. Many Senators are already campaigning, both on the trail and on the Senate floor. Supporting a payroll tax holiday that threatened the Social Security Trust Fund was a non-starter for Republicans (even though many wanted to make spending cuts to the program outright during the summer debt ceiling debacle). In addition, adding further tax cuts on top of a staggering amount of deficit spending is equally unpopular among particularly Tea Party Republicans (even though cutting taxes has been the Republicans’ bread and butter, unless they come from a Democratic White House).

Ultimately the rankling continues, but many insiders are confident that some kind of tax decrease for middle-class workers will take effect before next year, or the payroll holiday will be extended. A month before the election year neither party wants to be seen as the one to further depress an already downtrodden votership.