Buell's Clinton-backing PAC continues efforts

Barack Obama’s victory in the Democratic presidential primary hasn’t pushed WomenCountPAC, the political action committee founded by prominent California Hillary Clinton backer Susie Tompkins Buell, to shutter its efforts.

The organization is preparing to take out a full page advertisement in the New York Times in the next week that will call on the Democratic Party to focus on issues that are of concern to women, PolitickerCA.com has learned.

Rosemary Camposano, a spokeswoman for WomenCountPAC, said that while “the core of the group supported Hillary,” the organization wanted to make sure that women-focused issues central to Clinton’s candidacy, such as health care and abortion rights, remained in the public spotlight.

Buell, a multimillionaire San Francisco clothing entrepreneur, launched WomenCountPAC as the primaries were coming to a close in May. It immediately launched a full-page advertisement in the New York Times, USA Today, and Portland Oregonian pushing back against Clinton’s critics who were asking her to bow out of the prolonged primary battle. The organization has raised about $500,000 to date, a spokesperson said.

Buell has been an outspoken supporter of Clinton. Earlier this week, after Obama’s team named Patti Solis Doyle, Clinton’s ousted campaign manager, to its vice presidential campaign staff, Buell took umbrage, saying in an interview that the move was a “calculated decision” to "send a message that she [Clinton] is not being considered for the ticket."

WomenCountPAC says that it is not continuing its efforts to push Clinton for a spot on the ticket. “We would love to see Hillary at the bottom of the ticket,” said Camposano. “But there are other ways for Hillary to play a future role in the party.”