Boy, did our investment pay off.
Thanks to over 3,000 grassroots donors, our TV ad featuring a local gun owner holding Mitch McConnell accountable ran many times in Kentucky and DC.
And check out the 27 national and local news reports our TV ad generated!
Together, we’re impacting the national debate — big time! Thanks for being a bold progressive.
– Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor, PCCC co-founders
P.S. It looks like you haven’t yet joined our campaign for strong gun legislation. Sign the petition here.
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THE HILL: Progressive group expands ad buy targeting McConnell
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.“Thanks to over 3,000 small-dollar donations at GunOwnersForReform.com, we are expanding our TV ad buy in a way that will pressure Mitch McConnell where he’ll feel it most. Thousands of families across Kentucky will tune into the basketball game, the Sunday political talk shows, and the State of the Union address,” said PCCC co-founder Adam Green. The ad marked the early launch of what will be one of the nation’s most hotly-contested races.
CNN: Progressive group hits McConnell on guns
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 group said they would spend $27,000 initially to air the ad for one week.
It features Rodney Kendrick, a Kentucky gun owner who takes McConnell to task for his opposition to gun control measures like a ban on military-style assault weapons.
“I was born and raised right here in Kentucky,” Kendrick says in the spot. “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. As a gun owner and a veteran, I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands, because I know these guns. I know what they can do.”
“Sen. Mitch McConnell has taken thousands of dollars from gun manufacturers, and he opposes common sense reforms,” he continued. “Senator McConnell, whose side are you on?”
McConnell, who is serving his fifth term in the Senate, faces re-election next year, and is hoping to fend off any possible conservative primary challenges. Actress Ashley Judd has been mentioned as a potential Democratic rival.
Responding to the ad, McConnell’s spokesman Jesse Benton said the minority leader predicted “that protecting Kentucky from President Obama’s gun control agenda would result in a flurry of attack ads from left-wing groups.”
“It’s no secret to Kentuckians that Leader McConnell is a stalwart supporter of their Second Amendment rights and George Soros funded commercials aren’t going to change that,” he continued.
LOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL: Ad attacks Sen. Mitch McConnell’s stance on guns
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is coming under attack in a new ad for taking money from gun manufacturers and opposing gun safety initiatives.
The Kentucky Republican recently told potential campaign contributors that President Barack Obama’s effort to enact comprehensive background checks for gun purchasers was a move toward “full-scale confiscation” and “an attempt to gut our Constitution.”
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is going after McConnell in a new ad that features a gunowner from Berea and his grandson.“Senator McConnell, whose side are you on?”
Rodney Kendrick asks in the ad, which shows his grandson Mason sitting on his lap.The committee said it is spending $27,700 for at least a one-week ad buy on cable and broadcast outlets in Louisville, Lexington and Washington.
Kendrick was among the 115,000 people who have signed the committee’s petition at GunOwnersForReform.com that calls on Congress to pass Obama’s plan for background checks and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
WASHINGTON POST: Pressuring Mitch McConnell on guns
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is going up with a new ad — in Kentucky, of all places — hitting the Senate Republican leader over gun control, with a focus on the assault weapons ban:
Is it really possible to sell an assault weapons ban in a deep, deep red state? The spot tries to solve this problem by allowing a veteran to make the case:
“It’s unthinkable that guns meant for war could be used on civilians and children. As a gun owner and veteran, I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands. Because I know these guns. I know what they can do.”
Expanding background checks — which the ad alludes to with the suggestion about keeping guns “out of the wrong hands” — probably would be an easier sell than the assault ban. The group also has a Web site touting gun owners for reform.
WPSD-TV (NBC, Paducah):
A Washington-based group took to television to attack US Senator Mitch McConnell’s pro-gun record. [Ad begins playing] “Senator McConnell, whose side are you on?” [Ad fades out]. That ad from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee features a Berea resident, Rodney Kendrick, who calls it unthinkable that guns made for war could be used on civilians and children. Kendrick also claims McConnell has taken campaign money from gun manufacturers. McConnell’s campaign manager responded to that ad saying the Senator knew “protecting Kentucky from Obama’s gun control agenda would result in a flurry of attack ads from left-wing groups.”
WDRB-TV (FOX, Louisville):
A Washington-based group has begun airing a TV ad in Kentucky that criticizes Mitch McConnell’s pro-gun record. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee says it’s spending an initial $27,000 to run these ads in Lexington, Louisville and Washington. McConnell’s campaign manager said the Senator knew that opposing President Obama’s gun control agenda would open him up to political attacks.
A liberal group is attacking Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in a new television ad over his opposition to gun control measures.
The group Progressive Change Campaign Committee is launching the commercial, which will air in Kentucky and Washington, D.C. area. It features gun owner and former military marksman Rodney Kendrick from Berea, calling on McConnell to support a ban on assault weapons and background checks on gun purchases.
“On pretty much every major issue Mitch McConnell sides with his big campaign contributors over everyday people in Kentucky,” PCCC co-founder Adam Green told WFPL. “Right now the gun debate is front and center, and therefore we’re elevating the fact that after the gun industry has spent (hundreds of thousands of dollars) to elect Mitch McConnell. He is opposing the will of the people in Kentucky and basic things like background checks to buy a gun.”
POLITICO: Group attacking McConnell’s pro-gun record
A liberal group is airing an ad in Kentucky starting Tuesday attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for opposing gun control measures while taking campaign donations from gun manufacturers.
The ad, from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, features Rodney Kendrick, a veteran and gun owner from Berea, Ky.
“I was born and raised right here in Kentucky,” Kendrick says in the ad while holding his grandson, Mason, in his lap. “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. As a gun owner and a veteran, I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands, because I know these guns. I know what they can do. Senator Mitch McConnell has taken thousands of dollars from gun manufacturers, and he opposes common sense reforms. Senator McConnell, whose side are you on?”
The ad says McConnell has taken nearly $200,000 from gun manufacturers…The tactic is unusual for deep-red Kentucky, one of the most heavily-armed states in the country. McConnell is up for reelection in 2014…The PCCC also simultaneously released a poll Tuesday from Democratic pollster Public Policy Polling showing 82 percent of Kentuckians backing universal background checks and 50 percent supporting an assault weapons ban.
PROGRESSIVE GROUP LAUNCHES ADS AGAINST MITCH MCCONELL. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee unveiled a new television ad aimed at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., featuring a local gun owner shaming McConnell for opposing gun reform while taking money from the gun industry. “As a gun owner and a veteran, I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands, because I know these guns,” says Rodney Kendrick of Berea, Kentucky in the ad. “I know what they can do. Senator Mitch McConnell has taken thousands of dollars from gun manufacturers, and he opposes common sense reforms. Senator McConnell, whose side are you on?” WATCH: http://act.boldprogressives.org/go/13689?t=15&akid=12006.392150.9zmrEm
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Washington-based group has begun airing a TV ad in Kentucky criticizing U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s pro-gun record.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee said Tuesday it is spending an initial $27,700 to run the ads in Lexington, Louisville and Washington.
The ad features a Berea resident, Rodney Kendrick, who calls it “unthinkable” that guns meant for war could be used on civilians and children. Kendrick said McConnell has taken campaign money from gun manufacturers, and he asks “Sen. McConnell, whose side are you on?”
McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton said the senator knew that “protecting Kentucky from President Obama’s gun control agenda would result in a flurry of attack ads from left-wing groups.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has come out fiercely against President Obama’s efforts at passing new gun control measures, but now a progressive grassroots group is hitting back against the Republican leader.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) launched an ad in McConnell’s home state of Kentucky today, slamming him for taking political donations from gun manufacturers and opposing “common sense reforms.”
“I was born and raised right here in Kentucky. I served my country as a marksman and we were trained to use guns safely,” Kentucky resident Rodney Kendrick says in the ad, with his grandson Mason seated on his lap. “It’s unthinkable that guns meant for war could be used on civilians and children. As a gun owner and a veteran, I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands, because I know these guns. I know what they can do.”
The ad is running on broadcast and cable in Louisville and Lexington, as well as on cable in Washington, D.C., and should run for at least one week. PCCC is fundraising to air more ads featuring Kentucky gun owners.
Mr. Obama yesterday took his campaign for reducing gun violence to Minnesota to garner public support, but it’s unclear what measures can pass in Congress. McConnell’s re-election campaign last month sent supporters an email charging that Mr. Obama and Senate Democrats are “coming for your guns.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell knows he is a target of the right for being a party leader and a symbol for the party establishment (and he told Yahoo News as much in an exclusive interview last week.) But some progressives believe the Kentucky Republican’s opposition to gun reform is enough to give Democrats a foothold in McConnell’s 2014 re-election race in his conservative home state..
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) on Tuesday launched an ad campaign against McConnell over his gun stance.
“Senator Mitch McConnell has taken thousands of dollars from gun manufacturers, and he opposes common sense reforms. Senator McConnell, whose side are you on?” the ad’s narrator, Kentucky voter Rodney Kendrick, asks in the ad as he holds his young grandson on his lap.
The ad launched Tuesday with a $27,700 initial buy on broadcast and cable in Louisville, Lexington, and on cable in Washington, D.C., according to the committee.
The PCCC released polling they commissioned from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling that suggests Kentucky voters support some of the reforms for which McConnell has not issued public support including universal background checks and an assault weapons ban. Eighty-two percent of likely Kentucky voters surveyed by the firm stated support for universal background checks. Thirteen percent opposed. That question’s margin of error was plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
The firm also asked about an assault weapons ban and found wide support. Actress Ashley Judd has expressed interest in running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate but it remains unclear if she is serious about pursuing a campaign.
USA TODAY: Liberal Group hits McConnell on guns in TV ad
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is being targeted by a liberal group in a new TV ad criticizing the Republican’s opposition to gun control.
“I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands, because I know these guns,” says Rodney Kendrick of Berea, Ky., as he holds his grandson, Mason, in the TV ad. “I know what they can do.”
The ad by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) also highlights campaign money McConnell, who is up for re-election in 2014, from gun manufacturers. The ad will run on broadcast and cable in Kentucky markets and Washington starting Tuesday.
PCCC, which counts the election of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as one of its victories, commissioned polling by a Democratic-leaning pollster on gun control in Kentucky. The Public Policy Polling survey shows 8 in 10 Kentucky voters support background checks while 50% back an assault weapons ban.
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. “As a gun owner and a veteran, I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands, because I know these guns. I know what they can do. Senator Mitch McConnell has taken thousands of dollars from gun manufacturers, and he opposes common sense reforms.”
“Senator McConnell, whose side are you on?” asks Kendrick
The spot is part of a $27,700 campaign on television in Lexington, Ky., and Louisville, Ky., and on cable in Washington.
McConnell is using President Barack Obama’s push for gun control measures in an apparent attempt to shore up support for his 2014 re-election. A recent call went out toKentuckyians with McConnell saying, “President Obama and his team are doing everything in their power to restrict your constitutional right to keep and bear arms.” A similar fundraising email by McConnell’s campaign said gun owners are “literally surrounded” by “gun-grabbers in the Senate.”
Despite Kendrick’s plea on the new ad, The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein reported Monday that the assault weapons ban is likely to die in the Senate. Other gun-control measures — a universal background check for firearms sales, a federal trafficking law, and a ban on high-capacity magazines — are likely to be part of a final bill, Stein wrote.
A progressive group is issuing the first television ad in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) reelection campaign, attacking McConnell for his opposition to gun control — an issue the group believes, due to new polling, could be a winner even in red Kentucky.
The ad, launched by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, features Kentuckian Rodney Kendrick addressing the camera with his grandson on his lap, calling it “unthinkable that guns meant for war could be used on civilians and children.”
“As a gun owner and a veteran, I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands, because I know these guns. I know what they can do,” he says.
The ad closes with Kendrick asking: “Senator McConnell, whose side are you on?”
It’s backed by a $27,700 buy and is running on broadcast and cable in Louisville and Lexington, and on cable in Washington, D.C.
And the PCCC commissioned polling from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling that indicates Kentuckians do want to see movement on gun control, despite McConnell’s outspoken opposition to the measures proposed by President Obama.
Eighty-two percent of the likely Kentucky voters polled support background checks “to keep guns out of the wrong hands,” with only 13 percent opposing.
There is less consensus, however, on banning assault weapons; 50 percent of likely Kentucky voters polled support a ban, while 42 percent oppose one.
An overwhelming 64 percent of those polled own guns.
McConnell has been a staunch opponent of gun control, issuing a fundraising email pledging to block the expansion of any gun control measures. He could be facing a challenge from either the right or left going into 2014, and opposition to gun control measures is one way in which he can guard against a contested primary.
But the PCCC seems to be banking on a belief that the gun control issue, especially at a time when it’s at the forefront of the national conversation, could be a winner for Democrats in Kentucky.
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 and is, well, just watch:
The initial advertising buy is $27,700 and it’ll appear on MSNBC, CNN and ESPN in Louisville and Lexington.
They’ve also launched a website called GunOwnersForReform.com and have some new polling data from PPP:
Do you support or oppose criminal background checks to keep guns out of the wrong hands?
Support ………………………………………………….. 82%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 13%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 5%
(Asked of 663 Kentucky likely voters, MOE+/-3.8%:)
Do you support or oppose banning assault weapons?
Support ………………………………………………….. 50%
Oppose ………………………………………………….. 42%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 8%
(Asked of 712 Kentucky likely voters, MOE +/-3.7%:)
Are you a gun owner?
Yes………………………………………………………… 64%
No …………………………………………………………. 36%
(Asked of 1,375 Kentucky likely KY voters, MOE +/-2.6%)
The Progressive Change Campaign Committe is directly confronting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the issue of gun violence in his home state. Starting Tuesday, the group will air a TV spot featuring a Kentucky veteran calling on McConnell to support an assault weapons ban and other firearms reforms.
“As a gun owner and a veteran, I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands, because I know these guns. I know what they can do,” Rodney Kendrick of Berea, Ky., said in the ad.
PCCC says the ad will run “on broadcast and cable in Louisville, KY; Lexington, KY; and cable in Washington, DC.” A spokesperson for the group told TPM the initial ad by is $27,700 and lasts one week, “with more ads featuring Kentucky gun owners to come.”
The spot is part of a larger push PCCC plan to pressure McConnell with a website and pollingfrom the firm PPP showing 82% of Kentuckians favor background checks “to keep guns out of the wrong hands,” in the words of the poll.
McConnell has said he doubts Congress’ busy schedule will allow a gun bill to move early in the term.
LEO WEEKLY: New TV ad in KY slams McConnell on assault weapons
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is up with a new ad in Kentucky targeting Sen. Mitch McConnell for opposing new gun control measures such as banning military style assault weapons. Here’s the ad:
While a recent C-J poll on gun control did not ask about military style assault weapons, it did find that a majority of Kentuckians favored a number of President Obama’s proposed measures, such as closing the gun show loophole and limiting the size of ammunition clips.
McConnell’s campaign will now send out an email claiming that Obama’s minions are attacking the senator for not going along with his nefarious (and fictional) scheme to confiscate all of your guns.
LEO WEEKLY: The rich and fabulous cross-country club catering adventures of Team Mitch
Shortly after the Progressive Change Campaign Committee released their new TV ad in Kentucky targeting Sen. Mitch McConnell’s refusal to back common sense gun control measures, McConnell’s campaign fired off a statement slamming those wealthy, out-of-state elitists for daring to enter his Bluegrass turf.
Besides name-dropping the ubiquitous “George Soros” boogeyman, McConnell sought to point out how the group was nothing but outsider moneyed influence, claiming PCCC had only one donor from Kentucky.
And if you know anything about Addison Mitchell McConnell, you shouldn’t be shocked to find out that this statement was a complete falsehood.
McConnell’s campaign cited a federal database that only compiles donations over $200, but PCCC would subsequently point out that they actually have raised over 2,000 contributions from their 7,000 members in Kentucky, averaging less than $15 per donation.
But perhaps McConnell — the PAC-gorged, money-is-speech, king of the corporate-stuffed campaign war chest — has trouble seeing such small donors as “people” that he can identify with? McConnell’s recent Senate campaign filing with the FEC illustrates that fact as well as just about anything.
McConnell stuffed $715,000 more into his now $7.4 million campaign war chest, full of contributions from out-of-state big donors and corporate PAC money. Of the amount he raised, only just over 1 percent of the donations he brought in were unitemized — those lowly under $200 contributions from so-called “persons”. Of the itemized contributions, twice as many came from donors outside of Kentucky, with $184,000 coming in from PACs all stationed outside of the Bluegrass.
A further examination of his campaign distributions shows that McConnell spent much of those three months criss-crossing the country, wining and dining wealthy donors.
McConnell’s campaign racked up large hotels bills as it traveled to San Diego, Seattle, Atlanta, and Chicago, spending anywhere from $669 to $1,048 a pop at Romney-esque locales. It also paid out some impressive catering bills for his bourbon-defiling, Manhattan-sipping clientele.
His campaign paid Hollywood player Bruce Ramer $3,100 for catering and rental space to woo the Ashley Judd crowd in Beverly Hills. It also paid catering bills of $6,509 at The Olde Farm in Bristol, VA, $828 to Undine in Boston, $677 to the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh, $765 to The Chicago Club in Obama City, $770 to the Chops Lobster Bar in Atlanta, and $741 to Mangia Caterers in Bloomberg’s gun-grabbing Big Apple. McConnell also spent well over $10,000 of catering bills inside the Beltway to Belle Haven and Bon Vivant Catering, perhaps feeding the good folks at pharmaceutical giant Amgen, whose PAC threw a fundraiser in his honor on Dec. 17 in DC.
This Amgen fundraiser just happened to be little over a week before the fiscal cliff compromise deal was reached — which McConnell himself helped broker — and also just happened to give Amgen a gigantic $500 million secret windfall. Because giant Big Pharma corporations are “people” too, right?
Speaking of “people,” McConnell’s former chief of staff Hunter Bates just happened to give $3,000 to McConnell between the Amgen fundraiser and McConnell’s fiscal cliff deal… and Bates just happened to be Amgen’s DC lobbyist in charge of monitoring “budget discussions surrounding sequestration and fiscal cliff issues and their potential impact on healthcare.” All coincidences, we’re sure, as stuff as seedy-looking as this has neverhappened before around McConnell.
Nevertheless, it’s certainly a glamorous life of influence among the wealthy and elite job creators of others states for Mitch McConnell, which perhaps is fitting for a man who has turned a profession as a career politician into a personal net worth of $27 million. God forbid those lowly “people” who don’t have over $200 to give to the political machine ever threaten the precious career of our Senate minority leader.
ROLL CALL: Liberal Group Launches Ad Targeting McConnell on Gun Control
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal third-party group, began airing an ad Tuesday in Kentucky targeting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on gun control.
“As a gun owner and a veteran, I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands, because I know these guns. I know what they can do,” an older man says in the ad. “Senator Mitch McConnell has taken thousands of dollars from gun manufacturers, and he opposes common sense reforms. Senator McConnell, whose side are you on?”
CHANNEL 2 (Kentucky): Pure Politics
A national progressive group pushing for gun control is slamming U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell in an ad for opposing gun control measures while taking nearly $200,000 in donations from gun manufactures.
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee launched the ad featuring a Kentucky native and veteran with his grandson voicing his support for an assault weapons ban and asking Senator McConnell “Whose side are you on?”
National media organizations from the Washington Post to the Huffington Post reported on the ad, which is airing in Kentucky markets and Washington, D.C.
Page One also reported the story with poll numbers put out by the group that show 50 percent of Kentuckians are in favor of an assault weapons ban, and 64 percent of those polled are gun owners. The poll was conducted by Public Policy Polling out of North Carolina.
PUBLIC CAMPAIGN: Round up
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee was out yesterday with a TV spot in Kentucky featuring a Kentucky veteran criticizing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for opposing gun reform, while taking nearly $200,000 in campaign contributions from gun interests.
The McConnell camp fired back crowing that only one Kentuckian gave PCCC over $200, apparently forgetting that unitemized, small donors count. PCCC says 2,000 Kentuckians contributed under $200. Kentucky’s LEO Weekly reports that McConnell might have forgotten that donors at this size exist after spending the past three months criss-crossing the country for big money fundraisers from Beverly Hills and Chicago to the December 17 D.C. fundraiser for Amgen just days before McConnell negotiated the fiscal cliff deal that included a $500 million giveaway to the company. Only one percent of McConnell’s contributions were under $200 in the past three months.
CURRENT TV:
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is going after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on guns in a new TV ad. [Ad begins playing] “As a gun owner and veteran, I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep guns out of the wrong hands. Because I know these guns, I know what they can do.”
THE NATION: Does Mitch McConnell’s Pro-Gun Stance Threaten His 2014 Chances?
You may have heard that there’s a tough pro-gun control ad up in Kentucky this week targeting Senator Mitch McConnell, who faces re-election in 2014. The powerful spot features a veteran speaking to camera with his grandson on his lap. The man, a Kentucky resident named Rodney, calls for an assault weapons ban and background checks—but the thrust of the ad is to depict McConnell’s anti-gun law stance as a direct byproduct of his gun industry funding. Says Rodney: “Senator Mitch McConnell is funded by the gun industry, and he opposes common-sense reforms. Senator McConnell, whose side are you on?”
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is behind the ad, and they released some polling earlier this week as well, showing that 82 percent of Kentuckians favor criminal background checks for gun owners (versus 13 opposed) and 50 percent favored an assault weapons ban (versus 42 opposed). It was conducted by Public Policy polling, rated by Fordham University as the most accurate pollster in 2012.
Now, in more PPP polling results released first to The Nation, we see that hitting McConnell for his gun industry backing is indeed fertile territory in Kentucky:
Who do you think Mitch McConnell represents more in Congress: his big campaign contributors or regular Kentucky voters?
His big campaign contributors: 53%
Regular Kentucky voters: 36%
Not sure: 11%
…The PCCC received significant small-dollar donations this week after word of the ad spread, allowing it to extend the buy until Tuesday—including during the Louisville Cardinals game this weekend, the Sunday talk shows, and the State of the Union address.
This has larger implications not only for 2014, but for the gun debate in Washington now—if McConnell feels threatened at home by his pro-gun stance, he might be more willing to move bills on universal background checks and other measures.
The U.S. Senate race in Kentucky is already the nastiest Senate fight in the country, twenty-one months before voters head to the polls…Democrats are honing in on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for his stance on gun rights as new legislation moves through Congress…
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee said Friday they were expanding their ad buy hitting McConnell for his stance on gun control. On Tuesday the group announced they would spend $27,000 to air the ad for one week on broadcast and cable television in Kentucky and Washington, D.C.
That buy was expended Friday to include airings during Saturday night’s Louisville vs. Notre Dame college basketball game. McConnell is an alumnus of the University of Louisville
and a self-professed fan of their basketball team.
The ad will also air in commercial breaks during Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday.
“Thousands of families across Kentucky will tune into the basketball game, the Sunday political talk shows, and the State of the Union address. They will see that despite 82% of Kentuckians supporting criminal background checks for gun purchases, Mitch McConnell sides with the big gun industry that has spent $198,615 to get him elected,” Adam Green, the co-founder of PCCC, said in a statement.
POLITICO: Poll: Voters Think McConnell Represents Special Interests
The liberal group Progressive Change Campaign Committee is circulating a new poll by the Democratic-leaning firm PPP that shows that Kentucky voters believe Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) represents special interests more than “regular” folks. The poll finds 53 percent say that McConnell represents his campaign contributors more, while 36 percent say he represents the people of the state. Eleven percent are not sure. The poll comes on the heels of a new PCCC ad that hits McConnell on the amount of money he has taken from the gun manufacturers industry. Given the poll results, the group is hoping to further link McConnell to special interests with their ad campaign.
HUFFINGTON POST: Progressive Change Campaign Committee Expands Anti-Mitch McConnell Advertising
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee said Friday it would expand advertising attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for his resistance to gun control, signaling that the Kentucky senator’s 2014 re-election will meet heavy resistance on the airwaves.
The new purchase of more than $15,000 in advertising adds to an ongoing $27,700 campaign for ads that will air in Kentucky. The ads will run during Saturday’s basketball game featuring the Louisville Cardinals and Notre Dame, during the Sunday political talk shows and during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday. The ads also will air on Washington cable television during the game and the State of the Union address.
The expansion follows Karl Rove’s American Crossroads’ purchase of $10,000 in online advertising Wednesday targeting actress Ashley Judd, who has suggested she may challenge McConnell.
McConnell has tried to rally gun owners to shore up support for re-election. A recent call went out to Kentuckyians with McConnell saying, “President Obama and his team are doing everything in their power to restrict your constitutional right to keep and bear arms.” A fundraising email by McConnell’s campaign said gun owners are “literally surrounded” by “gun-grabbers in the Senate.”
AND WE’RE NOT DONE YET! We are airing the ad as much as possible Tuesday night in DC and Kentucky during the State of the Union address!
Thanks again for being a bold progressive. Together, we are impacting the national debate!
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