She has been a long-time left-wing activist on these issues and was probably a public figure for these purposes even apart from her "testimony" the other day.
Meet law student and feminist hero Sandra Fluke
If she sues Rush for calling her a slut, then she opens herself up to the factual question of whether she is in fact promiscuous.
If she tries to sue him for claiming that she herself was taking birth control and spending $3000 on it, as opposed to only saying that about other people, then it is not clear what the reputational damage is. It does not appear tenable for her to claim that the public falsing believing that she herself took birth control pills and paid for them is somehow damaging to her reputation, given her long-held public stance on these issues. There must be damage to reputation for a defamation suit to be viable (apart from the per se category).
Therefore, it is difficult to see how a defamation claim by her would be tenable as a practical matter. If she sues for being called a slut, then she is open to the question of whether she is in fact promiscuous as a defense by Rush. If she sues for having statements falsely attributed to her, then there does not appear to be any reputational damage associated with falsely attributing such statements to here, especially given her own public stance on the issue.
No. No. Just no. Hell no. I'm not certain you understand how extreme the 'public figure' test is under Times v. Sullivan. The answer is no. She was not a public figure for the purposes of Times v. Sullivan. Stretch it. Pull it. Try all you want. The answer is no.
Show me the wiki pages on her before her presentation. Show me all of the newspaper articles on her. Show me all of the youtube videos of her speeches and presentations and the times she's led movements. Show me all of her publications. Show me all of the web references to her name that are dated before her appearance. Give me the names of 100 people who knew who she was before she appeared before the Democrats. If she were a public figure on this topic then she would have been recognized by Congress and would have been permitted to testify on this topic instead of making some lame presentation in front of the Democrats
She. Was. Not. A. Public. Figure.