Protestors in Lexington Thursday encouraged Senator Mitch McConnell to vote "no" on the health care bill he’s pushing towards a vote, as a planned sit-in turned out to be a polite stand-around.
Our Revolution Central Kentucky organizer Kristen Pack said she had been contacted by the Lexington police before the protest and knew the group would not be allowed in the lobby.
But, ultimately, after some subdued sidewalk negotiations, groups of two or three, passing a handful of mostly smiling Lexington police were allowed to speak with McConnell staffers.
Outside there was chanting, singing, and occasionally, both.
“Show me what democracy looks like, this is what democracy looks like…that’s all I’ve got,” said one quickly worn out protestor leading chants without a bullhorn.
Pack said there were similar protests were going on across the country.
“What we are asking is that is that Senator McConnell stop this bill and vote no on this bill although he wrote this bill and seems to be the main one pushing it,” she said.
While mood was sometimes light the message was serious on both sides.
McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer quoted from a newspaper Op-Ed in which the senator wrote “by nearly any measure Obamacare has failed.”
Randy Wheeler, an Our Revolution Central Kentucky, spokesman, said the proposed health care bill would have devastating impact in Kentucky. He also said McConnell is not voting in support of his constituents.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 22 million people will lose coverage if the bill is passed.
