Kentucky

With surging Obamacare enrollments, dismal polling numbers for the Senate’s top Republican, and now, an attorney general who won’t fight to keep a key part of Kentucky’s same-sex marriage ban, it’s worth asking the question: Is the Bluegrass State bluer than we all thought?…

Taken together, progressives are confident these signs point to a potential political shift on the horizon.

“From social issues like marriage equality to economic populism issues like increasing Social Security benefits, a populist agenda is popular even in a perceived red state like Kentucky,” said Laura Friedenbach, spokesperson for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, in an email to msnbc. “That’s great news for Democrats, and means we should stay on offense instead of worrying about defense.”

Last night, Congress voted to end the government shutdown following two weeks of protests held around the country byAi??PCCC members and local activists to hold their Republican representatives responsible for the shutdown.

Our events took place in front of Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) Louisville office, Rep. Sean Duffy’s (R-WI) Hudson office, Rep. Andy Barr’s (R-KY) Lexington office, Rep. Pat Meehan’s (R-PA) Springfield office, Rep. Lee Terry’s (R-NE) Omaha office, Rep. Jackie Walorski’s (R-IN) Mishawaka office, Rep. Daniel Webster’s (R-FL) Winter Garden office, and Rep. Mike Coffman’s (R-CO) Aurora office.

5 of these 8 Republicans changed their vote and supported yesterday’s deal to end the shutdown.

Senate and House Democratic leaders united their colleagues and stood firm against the Tea Party during the shutdown. Click here to thank your representative for standing firm!

Check out some of the media coverage and photos from our events pressuring Republicans below.

The events were coordinated with the help of our allies at Democracy for America, AFGE, AFL-CIO, Kentucky Jobs with Justice, Louisville Young Democrats, Progressives United, MoveOn.org, CREDO Action, USAction, and Center for Community Change.

Pressuring Rep. Pat Meehan (PA-7)Ai??”Protesters stood in the pouring rain outside Rep. Pat Meehan’s Springfield officeAi??Friday…Their message to the Republican congressman from Delaware County: You’re vulnerable, and don’t forget it.Ai??Only 28 percent of voters in Meehan’s moderate district think he’s doing a good job.” — Philly.com

Pressuring Rep. Daniel Webster (FL-10)Ai??”Angry constituents gathered outside Rep. Daniel Websterai??i??s (R-FL) Winter Garden officeAi??on Friday, to demand that he votes to end the government shutdown” — West OrlandoAi??News

Rep. Sean Duffy (WI-07)Ai??”30 constituents protested outside Duffy’s Hudson officeThursdayAi??to demand that he vote to end the government shutdown…The event …

Frustration over the government shutdown is becoming more visible in Lexington as groups mobilize to protest the lack of progress in Washington.

Monday, Karissa Gerhke with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee led about 50 protesters who gathered in front of U.S. Representative Andy Barr’s office to demand action.

“We’ve been working with our partners to do these all across the country in Republican House districts like Andy Barr’s where they are not listening to their constituents and instead they’re just playing politics in D.C.,” Gerhke says.

Government workers and union members rallied Friday outside U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office to call for an end to the 11-day-old government shutdown that has idled hundreds of thousands of government workers across the nation.

About 50 people attended the rally that was organized by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has been critical of McConnell.

Karissa Gerhke, director of member engagement for the PCCC, laid the blame directly at the feet of McConnell, the minority leader in the Senate.

A protest occurred today in Louisville outside Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s office.

Local members of the Progressive change committee, the AFL-CIO, the Kentucky Jobs with Justice and several other groups gathered to call out McConnell and send him the message to “earn his paycheck and put our people back to work.”

Protesters said they wanted him to help re-open the government and give furloughed citizens the opportunity to continue to work. Furloughed workers also spoke at the event.

A progressive group is hitting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) with online ads focused on the probable government shutdown.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee ads, which will run in Kentucky, Ohio and Washington, D.C., feature the lawmakers’ faces and charge “Shutdown: McConnell Gets Paid. Military families go hungry.”

PCCC has already targeted McConnell, who is up for reelection in 2014, with Ai??television ads hitting him for his support for a proposal to reform the way social security benefits are calculated and would ultimately reduce benefit payments.

The new web ads come as the Senate voted down a House-passed government funding measure, inching the government closer to a shutdown, which will occur when the current government funding measure runs out on Monday, if the two chambers can’t agree on a fix.

Polls say Americans are concerned about National Security Agency surveillance. According to a progressive group’s survey, many want to see a top intelligence official punished for giving Congress inaccurate answers about the NSA’s efforts.

An internal NSA audit, released Thursday by The Washington Post, found that the agency has violated privacy rules thousands of times every year since 2008. But even before those revelations, a majority of voters in five state-level polls said that James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, should be prosecuted for giving Congress a “clearly erroneous” answer about NSA surveillance.

The five polls were conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has raised money for NSA leaker Edward Snowden’s defense fund.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) is the latest to pile on Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is facing a contentious re-election, with a new ad launching Thursday hitting the Kentucky Republican over Social Security benefits.

In the ad, auto worker Kirk Gillenwaters talks about the financial challenges he’s faced, and why he’s relying on the entitlement program as part of his retirement planning.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is launching a new television ad pushing embattled Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits.

The ad features Kirk Gillenwaters, a Louisville, Ky., worker who has been employed at a Ford plant for decades.

“We work hard for these companies and we’re promised a secure retirement in return,” Gillenwaters says. “But our pensions are being cut and we need Social Security.”

“When Sen. Mitch McConnell supports cutting Social Security, he’s breaking a promise – and he’s hurting our families,” he continues.

A progressive group targeting Mitch McConnell of Kentucky released a television ad Thursday, calling on the Senate minority leader to expand Social Security as the powerful Republican fights to hold on to his seat next year.

The 30-second spot features Kirk Gillenwaters, who says he started working at the Ford plant in Louisville when he was 18.

The ad from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee will run into next week on Louisville broadcast. The group says it spent $21,000 on the initial buy, adding to the $100,000 it has already spent against McConnell in Kentucky.

There is no longer any doubt that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lied to Congress. Likewise, there is no doubt that his lie runs afoul of federal law. And, of course, there is no doubt that in terms of its implications for oversight, constitutional precepts and privacy for millions of Americans, his lies were far more serious than those that have gotten other people prosecuted for perjury. The question now is whether his brazen dishonesty will become a political issue — or whether it will simply disappear into the ether.

As evidenced by President Obama this week attempting to promote Clapper to head an “independent” NSA reform panel, the White House clearly believes it will be the latter. But a set of new polls out today suggests such a calculation may be wrong.

Commissioned by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Credo and conducted by Public Policy Polling in five ideologically diverse states, the surveys find that huge majorities want Clapper prosecuted.

About 30 people attended a rally held by Moms Demand Action and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has aired ads attacking McConnell prior to the 2014 elections, when he will run for a sixth term. They stood in a light rain outside the Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Customhouse, where McConnell’s office is located, carrying signs that said things like “Background Checks Save Lives” and “82% of Kentuckians Demand Common Sense Gun Laws.”

Protesters in Louisville are criticizing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for voting against a bill that would have expanded background checks for gun sales. A group of about 30 people, mostly women, held signs in front of McConnell’s Louisville offices on Monday afternoon. They dropped off a petition with 1,200 signatures that demanded the senator support “sensible gun reform.” McConnell voted against the bill last month, and it eventually failed to get a 60-vote majority needed to advance. The group included members from Moms Demand Action and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Video available here: http://on.aol.com/video/pccc-assault-weapons-ad-targets-mitch-mcconnell-517683712

Ahead of a Senate hearing this week on the proposed assault weapons ban, a liberal group is attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell with a new TV ad featuring a Kentucky gun owner. The ad is the second by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which now has pumped $100,000 on TV and online to criticize the Senate’s top Republican in his home state — well ahead of his 2014 re-election campaign.

A liberal group is launching its second ad attacking the Senate’s top Republican over gun control in the past month. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee’s spot features a Kentucky gun owner criticizing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for opposing an assault weapons ban.

A liberal group is again challenging U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s position on gun control in a commercial that began running Monday in Kentucky and Washington in advance of the Senate’s next hearing on guns.

The group Progressive Change Campaign Committee is spending $100,000 to run the ad for at least a week. It began airing Monday in Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green and Paducah markets plus Washington, D.C., as the Senate’s Judiciary Committee prepares for a hearing Wednesday on the “Assault Weapons Ban of 2013.”

It features Edmonson County resident Gary Nutt telling viewers that, as a hunter, he doesn’t see the point of owning semi-automatic assault weapons that can fire dozens of rounds quickly without needing a reload.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is on the wrong side of an assault weapons ban, a progressive group argues Monday in a new attack ad released in the congressman’s home state of Kentucky… The ad hits out at McConnell, up for re-election in 2014, for taking money from the gun industry. The ad debuts ahead of a Senate hearing this week on an assault weapons ban—something President Barack Obama’s administration wants after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The committee believes McConnell’s opposition to a ban could lead to loss of votes for him this year… The ad is set to run on broadcast and cable in Lexington, Louisville, Bowling Green and rural Paducah markets and has an initial buy of $25,000, according to the committee. Monday’s ad brings the total spent by the PCCC on McConnell to $100,000.

A progressive group attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on gun control is expanding its ad buy through Tuesday after receiving thousands of donations following the initial airing of the ad. The ad, launched by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, began airing earlier this week. Within the first 24 hours of its airing, PCCC raised over $25,000 from more than 1,500 small-dollar donations, and it has raised overall $50,000 from more than 3,000 donations since it began.

That money raised will go towards airing the ad during the upcoming Cardinals basketball game, the Sunday morning political talk shows in Lexington and Louisville, Ky., and to bracket the State of the Union in both Kentucky and Washington, D.C.

A group whose aim is to elect progressive Democrats to Congress released an ad Tuesday hitting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for opposing gun control legislation while receiving campaign donations from gun manufacturers. The spot, from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, will run on broadcast and cable television in McConnell’s home state, as well as in Washington, D.C., including on CNN.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee released an ad Tuesday pressuring Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on gun control. “I was born and raised right here in Kentucky. I served my country as a marksman and we were trained to use guns safely. It’s unthinkable that guns meant for war could be used on civilians and children,” says Rodney Kendrick, a Kentucky gun owner, in the ad.

A group called the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is hitting Mitch McConnell this morning with a new ad campaign in both Kentucky and Washington, D.C. It features Kentuckian Rodney Kendrick of Berea.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has spearheaded several national campaigns, like the push to recall Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker and with Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s U.S. Senate bid. The PCCC has been working for months to encourage lawmakers in other states to drop their ALEC memberships. Now, PCCC state director James Ploeser says the group is focusing on three Kentucky Democrats: Gerald Neal, Walter Blevins and Kathy Stein.