Democratic US rep candidate Suzan DelBene (l) with high-profile supporter, Sandra Fluke

PubliCola spent last Friday afternoon up in Bellingham, where Sandra Fluke---the recent Georgetown Law School graduate who emerged as a national symbol of the war on women after Rush Limbaugh called her a "slut" because she attempted to testify in favor of President Obama's health-care law, which includes mandatory birth-control coverage---was campaigning for Suzan DelBene, the Democratic candidate for the 1st Congressional District.

DelBene's Republican opponent, John Koster, opposes abortion in all circumstances, including cases of rape and incest, and has referred to abortion as a "holocaust." Fluke said Friday: "That's not respectful to women in this country, and it's also not respectful to women who lost relatives in that terrible tragedy."

After a Q&A between Fluke and several dozen Whatcom County Democrats in downtown Bellingham, PubliCola sat down with Fluke and DelBene at Democratic Party HQ upstairs at the Bellingham Herald  building.

PubliCola : First question. Were you originally for Hillary or Obama?

Sandra Fluke : I was originally for Hillary. (DelBene, somewhat reluctantly, concurred.)

PubliCola : When President Obama called you after Limbaugh's comments, what did he say, and what did you say?

Fluke : He said that he just wanted to thank me for speaking out and helping to make the concerns of women in this country heard. And he was just very kind and wanted to make sure I was okay.

I, of course, wanted to use the opportunity to lobby him and make sure he knew how important the policy was. And he said, 'No, no, no, I just want to make sure you're all right.' And he wanted to let me know how proud my parents should be, which was important, because Mr. Limbaugh had called that into question, and that was difficult.

It was just a really kind of reassuring moment and something that I didn't need, and I don't expect the President to have to do, but it was quite in contrast to Mr. Romney, who was unable to stand up to Mr. Limbaugh, it seems, or unwilling to, and that really concerns me---not because of how it would effect me personally, but because it demonstrates that he's not a leader who would stand up to extreme voices in his own party. That's really problematic.

PubliCola: Can you talk a little bit about how your life has changed since being singled out by Rush Limbaugh?

I would not have imagined a year ago that I would have been here working with Suzan. It was quite a change. It seems like public policy is the area where I can have the most impact on the issues that I care about and the issues that Suzan cares, about like women's rights and equal rights for LGBT Americans.

PubliCola:  Are you campaigning for other Congressional candidates?

Fluke : I'm heading down to Florida tomorrow [to campaign for Democratic congressional candidates Lois Frankel, Patrick Murphy, Val Demings and Keith Fitzgerald], but Suzan is the first candidate I've campaigned for so far.

PubliCola : Are you planning, as many people have encouraged you to do so, a future run for Congress?

Fluke : I'm really concerned that we don't have enough women in Congress, and that's one of the reasons that i thought it was really important to come here and speak out about how important it is to to elect Suzan, because I think having more women at the table, more women in the room, makes a big difference. ... [Running for Congress is] something I would consider someday, but right now I'm just concerned with getting more strong women elected.

PubliCola : Do you read any feminist blogs (aside from PubliCola, of course)?

Fluke : I don't have a lot of time to read blogs, but I do try to read Reproductive Health Watch and Feministing.