“This year, Steyer will still be among the most active political donors. However, he’s ditching climate change, instead targeting any issue that could help Democrats secure office.”
Tom Steyer may well be the most important liberal activist not named George Soros. The billionaire environmentalist has announced that he will spend up to $30 million in the 2018 congressional races. His goal? To secure Democratic majorities in both the Senate and the House, thus paving the way for a potential impeachment of President Donald Trump.
Steyer himself had been rumored to be mulling a Senate race in California. However, Steyer appears to have decided to sit the actual races out, instead using his wealth to support candidates he prefers.
Interestingly, $30 million actually marks a scale back from previous funding efforts by Steyer. In 2014, the billionaire spent $74 million, but most of the candidates he backed failed to secure office. In 2016, he upped the ante, spending $87 million, but again most of his candidates fell short.
Climate change no longer appears to be the biggest issue for Steyer. Impeding and potentially impeaching President Trump has now taken precedence.
Obviously, Steyer wasn’t seeking to impeach President Trump back then. Instead, he was focusing on climate change, hoping that it would spur younger people to vote.
The billionaire activist has blasted Trump as being “unfit” for office and being “lawless.”
This year, Steyer will still be among the most active political donors. However, he’s ditching climate change, instead targeting any issue that could help Democrats secure office. Why the change of heart? Climate change no longer appears to be the biggest issue for Steyer. Impeding and potentially impeaching President Trump has now taken precedence.
President Trump has been a vocal skeptic of climate change and also pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement. However, Steyer’s beef with Trump isn’t limited to climate change. The billionaire activist has also blasted Trump as being “unfit” for office and being “lawless.”
Despite many millions spent, Trump appears to be at no increased risk of being impeached.
Steyer is facing a lot of pushback, but rather than Republicans, it’s Democrats who are telling him to cool his heels. Many leading Democrats believe that impeachment is a foolhardy ambition and an even worse campaign strategy. Many Democratic leaders have shot down impeachment publicly. Behind the scenes, Democratic leaders have reportedly been pleading with Steyer to cool his demands for impeachment.
Steyer has already spent millions of dollars on TV ad spending calling for impeachment. The effectiveness of these ads is quite questionable. Steyer also launched an online petition to call for impeachment. Allegedly, over 4,000,000 Americans have signed the petition, but such online petitions appear to be easy to hack. Despite many millions spent, Trump appears to be at no increased risk of being impeached.
A Quinnipiac poll found that 51% of Americans do not support impeaching Trump. 45% support impeachment, however.
Can Democrats Secure Congressional Majorities in 2018?
So will Democrats pick up seats in 2018? The races are a long way off, but they promise to be tight. However, despite a flurry of contested races in 2017, Democrats struggled to make big gains. There were exceptions, including Doug Jones’ Senate victory in Alabama. Other losses, including Jon Ossoff’s defeat even after raising record-breaking funds, suggest that gains won’t be easy.
Regardless, polling companies are projecting that Democrats could increase their numbers in the House from 193 to 226. If so, they’d lock up a slight majority. Pollsters are giving Democrats a 61% chance of securing a House majority. Despite the fact that Republicans are clinging to a narrow 51 seat majority in the Senate, Democrats have only a 45% chance of locking up a Senate majority.
