Gov. Linda Lingle kind of stepped on her own lines last week when she held a news conference to announce an ambitious $346 million package of tax relief she'd like to see enacted this year.

Traditionally, the governor would wait until her State of the State speech, set for tomorrow, to make an announcement of this magnitude. Legislators have sensitive egos and like to hear about such things first.

But these are different times, and the media-savvy operation in the governor's office has a different approach.

So the news media — and the public — got to hear about this plan well before lawmakers, at least officially, get the word.

It's also likely that the Lingle administration wanted to develop a head of steam behind the tax relief program before legislators have a chance to shoot it down. And shoot it down they will, if early reaction is any guidance.

Democrats in both the House and Senate reacted coolly to the tax plan, noting there were a lot of competing demands on the state's nearly $500 million surplus. Deferred maintenance, education, public safety and — most of all — union pay raises are on the list.

Lingle's tax plan has strong populist appeal. Who wouldn't like the idea of getting a $100 check for every member of the family? Wiping out the excise tax on the basic foods that even the neediest family must buy is a clever, and politically smart version of the traditional GOP call for total elimination of the excise tax on groceries.

Some of the other tax changes are bit more wonky, but they speak directly to claims that Hawai'i's income-tax system is unnecessarily regressive and distorted by the ravages of inflation.

Fundamentally, there's nothing in Lingle's plan not to like.

The Democrats have a tough job ahead. Spending the money, rather than "giving it back" tends to make specific interest groups happy but it does not have universal appeal.

The strongest card the Democrats have to play is that, when it comes down to brass tacks, most middle-class taxpayers (that is, voters) are relatively willing to do without modest tax relief if they believe the money will be wisely and properly spent.

Ask people if they want a $100 check from government and they'll say yes, of course. But push a little bit and most folks say they'd forgo the check if the money would, indeed, be spent on something real like fixing up our public schools.

Democrats know this. But their big task is convincing people that their spending plan indeed is a fair substitute for tax relief. At the end of the day, a lot of money will go to public worker pay raises; there is no doubt about that.

But to hold Lingle's tax relief monster at bay, they will have to do more than keep the unions happy. The political battle of wills requires the majority in the Legislature to come up with something that has at least as much populist appeal.

Reach Jerry Burris at jburris@honoluluadvertiser.com. Read his daily blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.