Joseph Gerth

@Joe_Gerth

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren brought her brand of populism to Kentucky on Sunday and urged voters to turn Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell out of office and replace him with Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes.

"He's been betting against you vote after vote after vote, year after year after year," she told a packed house at the George J. Howe Red Barn on the University of Louisville's campus.

Warren, who has developed a strong national following since being elected to the Senate in 2012, was in the state to help Grimes raise money in her quest to oust McConnell and to talk about her legislation she said would make college more affordable for the poor and middle class, which McConnell and other Senate Republicans blocked.

She said McConnell, answers every problem with "no, no, no."

"Minimum wage, Mitch McConnell says, 'no.' Social Security, Mitch McConnell says, 'no.' Equal pay for equal work, Mitch McConnell says, 'no,'" Warren said in a 23-minute speech. "So what are we going to say to Mitch McConnell?"

"No," the crowd roared.

A wide range of people from college students to people in their 80s attended the event at U of L, billed as a college affordability rally. It was hosted by U of L College Democrats.

Following the rally, Grimes and Warren attended a fundraising event downtown at the 21c Hotel.

About a dozen "Students for McConnell" stood outside the Red Barn with signs protesting the Grimes and Warren appearance.

Grimes, who has called for legislation to reduce student debt through slashing student loan rates and fully funding Pell Grants, endorsed Warren's efforts, saying that making education affordable should improve lives.

A college education, Grimes said, "is and should be the passport out of poverty, not into poverty."

Grimes refused to take questions following the event, ignoring a gaggle of reporters as she left the Red Barn through a back door and climbed into a black sport utility vehicle.

In addition to talking about education, Warren called for changes to the economy that would provide more stability and would make sure that banks are looking out for the people's interests.

"We can do better than the boom or bust cycles that have the banks wiping families out every 15 years or so. … We can put some tough rules in place, we can hold the banks accountable, we can make banking boring and we can keep this economy safe," she said.

But education was her focus.

"We can invest, we can create opportunities, we can build a better, brighter stronger future for ourselves, for our children and for our grandchildren," she said.

"And for half a century, that is exactly what we did. We made those investments in education … we invested in our colleges and universities," said the 65-year-old Warren, who said she attended college for just $50 per semester.

"We believed that if our kids got a better education, they'd have more opportunity, they could build something for themselves," she said. "As our families got richer, our country got richer, and as our country got richer, our families got richer."

But she said the nation has lost that sense in recent years and she criticized McConnell for opposing her legislation, which would have dropped student loan rates and paid for that lost revenue buy rescinding tax breaks she said go only to millionaires and billionaires.

"Mitch McConnell says it's more important to protect the billionaires," she said. "And that's what this race is all about."

McConnell's campaign has been critical of the Warren visit, saying that it showed that Grimes is out of touch with Kentucky voters.

"The multiple e-mails that Alison Lundgeran Grimes has sent promoting her upcoming fundraising tour with Massachusetts anti-coal liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren proves that Grimes is no longer hiding, but fully embracing, her far-left Obama allegiances," McConnell spokeswoman Allison Moore said in a recent release, adding that Grimes is "marching in (a) parade of the most anti-Kentucky Obama liberals to bankroll her campaign."

Both Grimes and Warren noted that the two don't agree on everything but said they agree on many issues. "We want to build a great future for this country, a great future for our children and our grandchildren and we are willing to fight shoulder to shoulder to make that happen," Warren said.

Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702. Follow him on Twitter@joe_gerth.