Press Coverage

As corporations and conservative moguls like the Koch Brothers dump millions of dollars into this year’s election season, it’s difficult for progressive candidates to stay afloat. But some may have found a secret, and it’s all about taking it back to volunteer, grassroots efforts. On Tuesday, a campaign titled “ Call Out The Vote ” was launched by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee to encourage people to volunteer to make phone calls on behalf of progressive candidates. The Call Out The Vote campaign is in its third and, perhaps, most important year, as it aims to make one million calls to targeted voters on behalf of 20 progressive candidates running for the House and Senate this election season.

One of the most prominent progressive groups in the country is launching a major voter outreach effort on behalf of 20 congressional campaigns, calling it the “crown jewel” of its election functions. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee hopes to place one million phone calls to targeted voters through the effort, named “Call Out The Vote.”

President Obama leads Republican candidate Mitt Romney in New Hampshire, 51 percent to Romney’s 43.5 percent, according to a new poll from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling and commissioned by the liberal-leaning Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC).

A new Democratic poll offers good news for the party in New Hampshire, putting Democrat Carol Shea-Porter in a statistical tie with Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) in the 1st District and giving Democrat Ann Kuster a slight lead over Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.) in the 2nd District. The polls were commissioned by liberal PAC the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and conducted by Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling on Sept. 24 and 25.

In response to Tommy Thompson’s promise to end Medicare and Medicaid as we know them, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) has gotten involved in the U.S. Senate race backing Democratic candidate Tammy Baldwin. The PCCC, which has nearly 27,500 members in Wisconsin, was very active in the 2011 recall elections here in Wisconsin as one of the leading groups running TV ads and mobilizing voters in the state.

As parents, students and teachers all wait to see when, and if, classes will resume, which they could as soon as tomorrow, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) is releasing an ad, set to hit Chicagoland airwaves immediately, thanking the teachers’ union “for their fight for students and parents.” Regardless of what happens today with the House of Delegates’ vote, PCCC officials say they will continue to run the ad as they see the Chicago teachers’ strike as indicative of a national battle between unions and politicians, particularly conservatives like Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who released a statement at the start of the strike blasting CTU.

It won’t be until this evening at least when we’ll find out whether the Chicago teachers strike is over. But there sure is a lot of activity out there — mostly by the Chicago Teachers Union and its allies. In one development, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a left-of-center political action committee that has been active in Wisconsin, began airing a “thank you, unions” ad on broadcast and cable TV and on the Internet. “Because we’re a union, we can work together to make things better for our schools,” it says.

WISCONSIN — The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) endorsed Mark Pocan (D), who is running to replace Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

Late last night, CTU President Karen Lewis and Chicago Board of Education President David Vitale both said there were major strides made in negotiations yesterday and that students could be back in school by Friday. Meanwhile, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a left-leaning political activism group, has been urging Chicago residents who support the teachers to call on their elected officials to do the same.

A liberal political group is criticizing Ann Romney’s comment that she and her husband “have not had a financial struggle in our lives.” The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is launching online ads, first set to run in Ohio, that highlights Ann Romney’s quote and suggests it shows that she and husband Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential nominee, are out of touch with middle-class voters.

Progressive Campaign Change Committee (PCCC) co-founder Stephanie Taylor speaks with Michael Shure (host of TwenTYTwelve on TYT Network) at the 2012 Democratic National Convention about speeches from Bill Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, Sandra Fluke, and more.

Hours before Elizabeth Warren speaks in prime at the Democratic convention, a leading progressive group backing the Democrat’s Senate nominee in Massachusetts will announce they’ve raised $1 million for her bid to defeat Republican Sen. Scott Brown. In addition, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) also tells CNN that they’ve received more than 50,000 grassroots donations that will be directed to Warren’s campaign, with the average donation being $16.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) announced on Wednesday that it has raised $1 million through grassroots donations for the Massachusetts Senate campaign of consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren. The announcement by PCCC comes as Warren, a favorite of progressive Democrats, is set to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte Wednesday. The group said that the $1 million raised came from 50,000 donors with an average donation of $16.

ABC News’ Michael Falcone reports that just as Tropical Storm Isaac is on the verge strengthening into a full-fledged hurricane, a liberal advocacy group is attempting to turn the bad weather into an attack on Republicans as they kick off their convention on Monday. This morning the Progressive Change Campaign Committee unveiled a series of web ads that they intend hundreds of thousands of Floridians to see during the week of the convention. Those who click on the ads will be directed to a site that accuses GOP leaders, including Mitt Romney’s running mate, Paul Ryan, of voting to curtail funding for disaster relief.

A new online ad campaign launched Monday targets Republicans for proposed cuts to disaster relief funding and weather monitoring systems. The ads, launched by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, coincided with Tropical Storm Isaac’s pass over the southwest of the state, where it caused widespread power outages and forced the GOP to cancel the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Tropical Storm Isaac hasn’t yet made landfall on the Gulf Coast, but the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is already using the could-be hurricane as a cudgel against Republicans. The liberal advocacy group is starting to run Web ads in Florida criticizing congressional Republicans for having voted in the past against disaster relief.

Since Romney’s VP announcement on Saturday morning, the progressives have raised over $75,000 for the Rob Zerban, the progressive Democrat running against Paul Ryan in Wisconsin’s 1st District, the Progressive Campaign Change Committee announced Monday. PCCC members’ contributions made up almost half of the total raised.

Adam Green, the co-founder of the liberal group Progressive Change Campaign Committee, released a statement Saturday, saying: “Paul Ryan is a right-wing extremist who wants to end Medicare. This is a major unforced error by Mitt Romney. National exposure of Paul Ryan’s extreme plan to end Medicare will make him more vulnerable back home in Wisconsin.” The group says it will begin running online ads nationally, including targeting millions of people in swing states such as Florida and Wisconsin.

In addition to the Medicare debate, liberal groups lashed out against Ryan as hostile to women for voting to end funding of Planned Parenthood and veterans for backing cuts to the Department of Veterans of Affairs. Adam Green, co-founder of the liberal Progressive Change Campaign Committee, called the pick a “major unforced error.” “It gives President Obama and Democrats a chance to draw a clear contrast in 2012 by promising not to cut one penny from Medicare or Social Security benefits,” Green said. “If Democrats win in a landslide, this was the game-changer.”

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) just launched a joint petition with the Working Families Party and local allies calling on Quinn to allow a vote on the Paid Sick Days Act.

… Sometimes the best way to tackle corporate influence in our politics is to name and shame corporations that are secretly financing front groups to manipulate our democracy… On a recent national call with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), leading campaign finance reformer Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) endorsed a version of this tactic to tackle dark money in our elections.

For two days in the middle of July, Whitehouse led Democrats in holding the Senate floor to try to open debate on the Disclose Act, a bill that would force groups spending more than $10,000 on elections to name their contributors. The bill was blocked — twice — by a Republican filibuster. “We can’t give up in the Senate,” Whitehouse said on a conference call organized by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee on Tuesday. “I talked to my colleagues about what I call the Jericho principle, which is just because you didn’t win the first time around doesn’t mean you aren’t going to win down the road.”

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s national profile continues to rise. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee will hold a national conference call on Tuesday at noon for its members and the press where Whitehouse will discuss efforts to overturn the Citizens United ruling and his Disclose Act, WPRI.com has learned.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) told its supporters on Thursday that it raised $800,000 for Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts over the past year. Warren has so far raised nearly $25 million, outraising Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown in a race that is projected to be one of the most expensive in the country.

A day of protests and rallies at the Michigan Capitol has begun with Democratic Rep. Barb Byrum of Onondaga seeking an apology from Republicans for a one-day, House floor speaking ban last month. Byrum, along with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy For America members, said she delivered more than 115,000 signatures calling on Republican House Speaker Jase Bolger to publicly apologize for the ban