The group will also 'call out the media when they hide from the real story,' Feingold said. Feingold launches progressive PAC

Former Sen. Russ Feingold is launching a liberal political action committee that he says will help progressives “fight back” against elected officials, Republicans and Democrats alike.

In a Web video made public Wednesday, Feingold announced the formation of Progressives United, a grass-roots group that will push progressive ideals and support local, state and national candidates. “We’ll work to ensure that our elected officials, both Republicans and Democratic, are held accountable to the people and not to the lobbyists in Washington,” he said.


The group, he added, will also “call out the media when they hide from the real story” and “support candidates when they uphold our progressive ideals, even if the Beltway establishment doesn’t.”

The Wisconsin Democrat lost his bid last fall for a fourth Senate term and has taken a job teaching at Marquette University Law School while working on a book. He had been mentioned as a candidate who could challenge President Barack Obama from the left in a 2012 Democratic primary, but his camp quickly dismissed those rumors in December.

Progressives United’s mission is to focus, in particular, on countering the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which gave corporations much greater latitude in donating to political campaigns. The ruling overturned key portions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, better known as the McCain-Feingold Act, which limited corporate influence on elections.

The high court’s ruling, Feingold told The Huffington Post, is “one of the most lawless decisions in the history of our country” and needs to be overturned. Progressives United will work toward “mitigating the effects of, and eventually overturning, the Citizens United decision,” the group’s website says.

Feingold also said he hopes to see Obama step up his pressure on the Supreme Court over the ruling. “I would like the president to take it up a few notches on this issue, and I hope he will in the coming year and in the campaign next year,” he said. “I’m hoping the president will recognize that what we’re trying to do here is begin a new progressive movement that will hold our elected officials accountable.”