Q&A: Left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer says failing to flip House in 2018 would be a ‘disaster’
By
New Hampshire Union Leader
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Left-wing billionaire
* Democrat donor to pump
BOW -- The left-wing
Since launching his effort, Steyer's Need to Impeach campaign has spent more than
The effort has galvanized a petition drive attracting 5.5 million signatures, most of them from disaffected Americans.
On Thursday, Steyer plans to host a canvassing event and perhaps do some grass-roots campaigning for his other venture, NextGen America, a national effort to mobilize more young people to vote in future elections. Steyer's group was active during the 2014 and 2016 elections and intends to spend
Steyer remains a polarizing figure, a hero to his many followers, and, to critics, a political opportunist bent on running for President himself in 2020.
"The Left's disdain for our President is made especially clear when
Some Democratic leaders have condemned Steyer's effort and warn that it is energizing Trump's Make America Great Again base to turn out for an election they would ordinarily sit out.
The following is an excerpt of a telephone interview in advance of Steyer's visit to
Q: What would you consider to be a sign of success for your campaign with midterm election results?
A: This campaign has far exceeded what we expected when we started. Our sort of go-to principles were like in sports -- at the end of the game you make your best move and try to get your opponent to try and stop it.
Our go-to move has been to tell the truth, stand up for democracy and stand up for the American people.
If you told me we would have five and a half million people sign our petition, that's a ridiculous success.
I can tell you one thing that will be a success. Over 60 percent of those who signed our petition don't vote because they don't trust the system, they don't think politicians tell them the truth and that democracy has been stolen by monied special and corporate interests. If we have engaged them in a level that they participate, that is a huge change.
We have set a goal that regardless of whether we can control it or not -- and we can't if the House doesn't flip -- it is a disaster. The
Q: Does it bother you that many Democratic candidates and officeholders reject the aims of your movement and even publicly ridicule it?
A: I would separate that into two things. I would say the institutional, inside-the-beltway
We are dealing with the largest demographic that turns out at half the rate of the rest of the population. Our answer is don't tell them the truth one more time and that will inspire them to come out and vote.
Q: At any point does it concern you that this movement is pushing the Democratic Party so far left that it is less electable in the future?
A: We are seeing a generational change in the Democratic Party.
Look at what happened. In
Q: What prospects do you have for this message and your NextGen efforts here in
A: There's two messages. At NextGen, the grass-roots work we are doing with young people in the state, that we have been doing since 2014. We are on all 18 campuses here in
People under 35 voted at about half the rate as other citizens. In
We are a grass-roots organization, we believe the answers to our problems are more democracy, more participation. If they aren't part of our democracy, then we don't have a representative democracy.
Q: Are the responses at these 20 town halls all the same or do they vary by where they take place?
A: It is actually incredibly fun. It is great to travel around and meet people all over the country.
There is some consistency (in the responses) but also some regional differences. The biggest takeaway from all of these town halls is the people who come are patriots, they are worried about the course of our country, they are often (veterans) who feel they have sacrificed for their democracy and want to make sure they are handing off a country of some value.
The biggest takeaway for us is this emotional patriotism and bond to our country. What is interesting is how it gets expressed. Different parts of the country have different styles. There are different ways that people respond and different ways they expressed how they are feeling.
Q: Has all this experience in the last three election cycles made you more fired-up about running for President some day or much less likely to do so?
A: It has actually been an incredible educational experience in terms of learning something every single day. ... I remember back in 2014 or 2015 the experience of sitting in
Politics
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