This year, Americans roll their eyes once again at a campaign to vilify the age-old practice of rich people spending their money to spread political messages. The attacks are mostly one-sided, with Democrats using both the campaign platform and the floor of the Senate to denounce two people in particular.
They are, of course, Charles and David Koch, billionaire philanthropists who have used some of the money they earned to advance their libertarian view of the world. Their flagship group, Americans for Prosperity (which is actually not exclusively funded by them), spent an impressive $37 million on ads to affect election outcomes in 2012.
This time around, though, a liberal billionaire is stealing their thunder. Tom Steyer, who reaped large returns at his hedge fund from oil investments, is now safely rich and has thus begun a crusade against the use of hydrocarbon fuels. He hopes to prevent America from becoming an oil-exporting nation and to block construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Steyer began the 2014 election cycle promising to defeat Republican candidates nationwide by using the issue of climate change. He pledged to spend $50 million of his own money, and then raise an additional $50 million from others. He has more than fulfilled the personal part of this pledge — at $55 million, he is now the biggest Super PAC donor in America for 2014, and by quite a long way. But he has raised very little from other sources. This might be in part because his Super PAC — NextGen Climate Action — is producing and airing ads on a luxury issue that few Americans consider a priority.
It might also be because his ads are goofy. In Colorado, one of his ads accuses Rep. Cory Gardner, a Republican candidate for Senate, of voting for unlimited pollution, which is likely to elicit more laughs than votes. In Iowa, NextGen’s advertisements accuse Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst of threatening the state’s corn crop because … well, climate change, or something, apparently kills corn. In Florida, where NextGen has spent millions against embattled Republican Gov. Rick Scott, one of the group’s new ads uses cavemen to convey the powerful message, “Governor Rick Scott thinks the scientists are wrong.”
NextGen has produced numerous web videos for YouTube, as well — high-quality spots apparently filmed at great expense. Most have received practically no web traffic. (Exception: One especially weird and slightly xenophobic spot depicts the CEO of a Canadian oil company sliding through the Keystone XL pipeline on an inner tube. It has received about 100,000 views since it was posted more than a year ago.)
Some of Steyer’s targeted candidates might lose this fall. Or they might all win. But when Democrats condemn the political spending of those who disagree with them, and then look the other way when it comes to billionaires who share their views, they indict themselves.
They should welcome all voices to the political conversation — Steyer included. Nothing could be more American than the freedom of political speech — or the old saying that “a fool and his money are soon parted.”
