Clinton super PAC reshaping itself to help Dems fight Trump

Priorities USA Action, the super PAC that backed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, is reshaping itself to help Democrats counter President-elect Donald Trump, according to a report in The Washington Post.

The super PAC, which was formed in 2012 by former advisers to President Obama, will join forces with the nonprofit Every Citizen Counts. Guy Cecil, the Democratic operative who ran both organizations, will lead the combined force.

“We’re trying to break through that ‘either or’ perspective — that we’re either a party that supports the emerging majority or a party that still reaches out to those white working class voters who voted for Obama just four years ago,” he told the newspaper. “We can do both.”

{mosads}Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the Human Rights Campaign, the Latino Victory Project and the American Federation for Teachers are already supporting the new group.

Cecil emphasized the need to “focus on the areas where our individual fights meet and use our financial and political power to lift up and support other voices.” 

The move comes as the Democratic Party seeks to retool after Clinton’s loss to Trump in the presidential election.

Cecil said that Priorities Action achieved its goal of making “Trump unpopular,” but “it wasn’t enough given the dynamics of the campaign and the two candidates.”

Donors who contributed to Priorities USA, which put almost $200 million into efforts to elect Clinton, according to the Post, have expressed interested in the new endeavor.

“I can’t imagine that anyone that watched his work in 2016 isn’t going to step forward and be helpful to him,” venture capitalist J.B. Pritzker told the newspaper about Cecil.

The new group has $10 million in pledges.

“I have been part of some great wins and tough losses, but my faith has taught me about the power of perseverance and I believe that is what we need from everyone right now. Dogged perseverance,” Cecil said. 

This story was updated on Dec. 21 at 11:11 a.m.