Tom Steyer, the liberal mega-donor who is seemingly everywhere on television these days, could take his impeachment push primetime on the Democratic debate stage.
With just four days to go to secure a spot at the Houston event, Steyer may have a chance to inject new life into the issue that dominates the public perception of his presidential bid.
“He’s not going to shy away from it,” a senior adviser to Steyer said about impeachment.
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But as he nears the debate’s qualifying threshold and a Democratic base that is increasingly interested in removing the president from office, Steyer faces a tricky calculus to win over one of electoral politics’ most important voting blocs: independents.
A majority of Americans are opposed to impeaching Trump, a new Monmouth University poll released on Tuesday indicates. According to the survey, 59 percent of respondents said that Trump should not be impeached and removed from office, while 35 percent said he should be.
But more critically, impeachment is significantly less popular with independents than Democrats. While 72 percent of Democrats believe an inquiry is a good idea, only 39 percent of independents said it was the best thing to do, the survey indicates.
The senior Steyer adviser pushed back at the notion that he was running on the sole issue of impeachment, saying the campaign is more broadly focused on campaign finance reform.
Steyer’s “Need to Impeach” group, which he no longer oversees as its president, has spent $75 million since it launched in October 2017, a spokesperson said. When he first announced his 2020 bid, the mega-donor pledged to spend $100 million of his own money on his bid. He has also already significantly outspent his rivals on Facebook, adding up $2.9 million on ads on the platform in the 30 days from July 13 to Aug. 11, a CNBC report indicates. Several other candidates have complained he is trying to buy his way on stage with his vast wealth.
But his commitment to impeachment could outshine others on the debate stage if the topic is raised. “He’s been the face of it,” the adviser said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has so far been reluctant to entertain the growing interest in impeachment proceedings in the lower chamber of Congress, often pointing to its potential to negatively affect Democrats and give Trump a possible political boost ahead of 2020. But with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) announcing the launch of an inquiry earlier this month in a cable news interview, more Democrats have come out in support of the move, including Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and Reps. James Langevin (D-RI) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL) this week.
While the topic has received broad support from 2020 Democrats, many of whom re-energized their calls after Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified that his Russia report did not totally exonerate Trump, candidates often point to the fact that it’s not often brought up among voters on the campaign trail. That rationale has become even more apparent with its lack of significant airtime in the first two Democratic debates.
But that could change if Steyer makes it to Houston.
“The importance of getting him on that stage in September is the American public really needs to hear from him,” the Steyer adviser said.
On Friday, Steyer’s campaign released a statement on the DNC polling criteria, calling for a more transparent process that includes the acceptance of more credible state polls.
“The polling is clear. In just over six weeks, Tom’s message of breaking the corporate stranglehold in Washington is resonating in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada,” campaign manager Heather Hargreaves said. “The American people deserve to hear this message in September, but are being denied by the lack of recent qualifying polls. Today, we are calling on the DNC to expand their polling criteria to include more qualifying polling, including at least one poll in Nevada before the deadline next week. As a party, we want to ensure the will of the voters is respected.”
So far, 10 candidates have qualified for the next debate: former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), as well as former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-TX), former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.
If he qualifies, Steyer would be the eleventh candidate on stage, transforming the debate setup into a two-night affair. The billionaire mega-donor has already surpassed the Democratic National Committee’s 130,000 donor requirement and registered in three polls above the 2 percent metric. He has until Aug. 28 to earn enough support in one more DNC-sanctioned survey to qualify.
Steyer’s possible addition to the next debate could also muddy the optics on stage more broadly. If he doesn’t qualify, it would be the first time Biden, Sanders, Warren, and Harris would appear on stage together, effectively allowing voters the chance to see the current top-tier candidates directly challenge each other. But if he’s allowed on stage, the order would be randomly divided up, ABC News announced this week, along with outlining other rules and the moderator lineup of George Stephanopoulos, David Muir, Linsey Davis, and Univision anchor Jorge Ramos.
So far, single-issue candidates have not fared well in the 2020 contest. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who focused his campaign on guns, dropped out just three months after launching his bid, while Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), who announced on Friday he is suspending his campaign, failed to take off after he attempted to run only on national security. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who also withdrew from the contest this week, could not effectively translate the issue of climate change to widespread support with voters, despite its popularity among the Democratic base.
Still, Steyer’s campaign insists his appeal is broader than just impeachment. “We see that in those early states, his message has been resonating. You see how quickly we achieved the polling numbers,” the adviser said. “It’s just getting him to have that comfort level on stage.”
