There's "Ready for Hillary." There's "Hillary For The Win," "Time for Hillary," "Hillary Clinton Super PAC" — there's even "Just Say No to Hillary," "Defeat Hillary," "Stop Hillary," and the ominously titled "Hillary Project."
Now, another political action committee, "HillaryPAC," joins the nine existing groups dedicated exclusively to electing, or defeating, a presidential candidate who hasn't announced her campaign, who may not even decide to run at all.
HillaryPAC, the latest pro-Hillary Clinton effort, launched on Tuesday morning with a new website and web video. Sam Deskin, the group's founder, said HillaryPAC won't be too different from the other outfits backing a Clinton run — particularly Ready for Hillary, the largest of the five, which focuses on building an early and extensive list of people across the country who would support and volunteer for Clinton in 2016.
"HillaryPAC has two goals: to get Hillary Clinton to run for and become president of the United States in 2016, and to bring moderation to Congress," Deskin said. "My understanding of other PACs is that their main focus is the get Hillary to run and get her elected. We believe that is only half of the recipe to getting her policies in place."
Deskin, a lawyer based in Los Angeles, was briefly linked to the late Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called "D.C. Madam" who ran a prostitution ring out of Washington. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana, was famously one of Palfrey's clients.
Deskin's connection to Palfrey has been chronicled in a handful of blogs, one of which shows their email correspondence regarding legal matters in 2008, months before Palfrey's conviction and eventual suicide.
"I spoke with Jeane about the case, but we never went beyond the talking stage," Deskin said. "I was interested in her case, because I've noticed that politicians who talk about 'family values' can be hypocritical at times, not only in the way they conduct their personal lives but, more importantly, in the way they talk about valuing families while they push to undermine programs designed to help families."
HillaryPAC, now registered with the Federal Election Committee, has about 20 volunteers on hand, according to Deskin.
"We are planning a really unique approach to a super PAC," he said.