Tom Steyer was supposed to be the cash cow for Democrats. Now he may be crashing their party.
He was supposed to be the guy the Democrats would woo with loud but impotent displays of concern about climate change. He was just supposed to cut the checks, bankroll the party leaders, and think he was somehow wielding clout.
Now he’s gotten too big for his billionaire britches and has edged out Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg to be the runner up in South Carolina according to a new Fox News poll.
Joe Biden is leading in South Carolina with 36% in this poll. Steyer is tied for second place with Sanders, with Steyer posting 15% and Sanders at 14%. Warren is down at 10%, and Buttigieg barely registers in South Carolina.
How has Steyer burst into the fray? By spending unprecedented amounts of his own cash on ads.
As of mid-December, Steyer had spent $89 million on ads. By comparison, Pete Buttigieg had outspent Bernie, Biden, and Warren on ads, and he had spent only $19 million.
That’s equal to Steyer’s spending on pro-Democrat groups in the entire 2016 election.
Imagine the shock to party leaders, whether presidential candidates like Biden and Warren, or congressional floor leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Different people play different roles within the party. Pelosi’s job is to bring about unity in the House. Schumer’s job is to connect his candidates to donors and to set strategy. And Steyer’s job is to bankroll all of it.
Now Steyer has strayed way out of his lane, crowding out Warren, Sanders, and Buttigieg in South Carolina — and possibly down the line even challenging Biden in later states.
There are a lot of ifs here, of course. This is just one poll and it may be an aberration. After Iowa and New Hampshire, the other candidates might just overtake him. In any event, a distant second in South Carolina is not enough to make one a serious candidate.
But still, Steyer might be a real player in this race. He wasn’t supposed to.
