Liberal billionaire Tom Steyer spent $75 million of his own money in 2014 to elect Democrats and promote his green energy agenda. Almost all the candidates he put his financial weight behind lost. He spent more money that year than any one individual in the country with basically nothing to show for it except a thrill up Al Gore’s leg.
This year the opulent climate activist has taken on another strategy.
Armed with $60 million dollars this election cycle, Steyer is using his money less on television ads and more on grassroots organizing. His super PAC, Fight For Our Future, is working with liberal-aligned groups to coordinate more closely in targeting voters. These groups include NextGen Climate, Voces de la Frontera, and even the major labor union AFL-CIO.
What Steyer is mimicking is the grassroots coordination implemented by Charles and David Koch’s operation. These groups, funded by the Kochs and other conservative donors, include well-known entities such as the Americans for Prosperity, the Libre Initiative, and Generation Opportunity. All three groups focus on different niches, but have the same goal in mind: electing Republicans at the local, state, and national level.
The irony is almost laughable. Anyone who has watched the news has surely heard of the “dreaded” Koch brothers. That’s because it’s been an official strategy of the Democratic Party to cast them as evil, wealthy aristocrats who want to own Congress and make America its playground for their own business devices. Why? Simply because they hate the thought of third-parties spending money on behalf of Republicans.
Now that Tom Steyer has not only copied the Koch brothers in terms of massive political spending, but has even replicated their political infrastructure... It’s all good! He’s fighting for the right causes (i.e. liberal causes).
For what it’s worth, Steyer’s operation this year is bearing more fruit than last election. Fight For Our Future knocked on its four millionth door last weekend. They have a paid staff of 900 canvassers working in all major swing states.
It would be quite interesting to hear Harry Reid go on the Senate floor and lament how a billionaire from California is trying to “buy” Congress.