As a progressive who watches too much television, when I see a Democratic candidate dominating the TV air war with ubiquitous campaign ads, I usually know that’s a Democrat I should oppose — the one being lavishly funded by wealthy corporate interests. And the ads are usually vapid and empty.
Living in California these past months, I’ve had to adjust my normal mindset. Because a Democrat who is running for governor and dominating the airwaves has put out one substantive ad after another, calling for taxing the wealthy, breaking up utility monopolies and standing up to Big Oil. Each ad could have been released by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — like the one featuring California Rep. Ro Khanna talking about taking on the “big insurance companies” to pass universal “single-payer healthcare” for California. Or the candidate’s video message denouncing AIPAC, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee — “they’re attacking progressive Democrats every chance they get” — and the Democratic Party establishment for “not talking more forcefully” against the Iran war.
The candidate putting out all these progressive ads is billionaire Tom Steyer, a former hedge fund manager turned environmental advocate who is now self-funding his campaign to the tune of $130 million — so far.
Let me be clear: I generally loathe billionaires, hedge-funders and everyone in the financial speculation elite. I remain skeptical that someone as wealthy as Steyer, who operated at the heights of amoral financialized capitalism, can deeply understand and fight for working-class interests.
This left me in a quandary. A month ago, after seeing Steyer’s anti-AIPAC video attacking Democratic leaders for failing to “forcefully” oppose Trump’s war, I started an intense dialogue with progressives across California, including journalists, experienced activists and organizational leaders. Almost all — somewhat surprisingly or confusedly or embarrassingly — were arriving at the same conclusion: that the billionaire is the best choice for governor.
Many had attended and been impressed by one of Steyer’s town hall forums across the state, where he kept his introductory remarks short in favor of long question-and-answer sessions with audiences. I found online memes from Amar Shergill — a Steyer supporter and activist I respect who formerly chaired the California Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus — including his charts comparing the Democratic field.
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Like in other Democratic one-party states, pro-corporate corruption in Sacramento, California’s state capital, is rampant. This is why the Golden State, despite having a population almost as large as Canada, lacks universal healthcare coverage. Most Democrats in office say they support it, but profiteering insurance interests fund their campaigns. A bill to move California toward government-provided single-payer health insurance that would replace private insurance sailed through the Democrat-led state legislature in both 2006 and 2008, when it was well-known that GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who called it “socialized medicine,” would veto the measure. He did so both times.
But a funny thing happened in the California legislature ever since Democrats took the governor’s office in 2011, first with Jerry Brown and then Gavin Newsom: A single-payer healthcare bill never made it to their desks. In some years, thanks to medical industry lobbyists, the legislation didn’t even get out of committee.
Make no mistake about it: Corporate lobbyists are horrified that Steyer might become California’s governor.
Make no mistake about it: Corporate lobbyists are horrified that Steyer might become California’s governor. To stop him, corporate forces and their allies in the Democratic establishment have moved from now-disgraced Rep. Eric Swalwell, who dropped out of the race after facing credible accusations of sexual assault, to former Rep. Xavier Becerra, who served as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden. Becerra, who won praise from the right-wing Murdoch press for pocketing the maximum campaign donation from Chevron, is now bending to the will of private interests on healthcare, according to KQED public radio.
Steyer’s unequivocal support of CalCare (California Guaranteed Healthcare for All), a single-payer, universal health system, is one of the reasons he’s been endorsed by Khanna and the California Nurses Association, and why RootsAction, an organization I co-founded, came out in support of him on May 1.
One dividing-line issue among Democratic candidates is the California Billionaire Tax Act, a ballot initiative launched by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West that would impose a one-time emergency tax on the state’s 200 richest individuals to bolster healthcare. It’s supported by Steyer, Khanna and Sanders, and opposed by Newsom and billionaire friends like Google co-founder Sergey Brin and the company’s former executive chairman Eric Schmidt. (As a funder and activist, Steyer has used statewide ballot initiatives to win reforms on several issues, including Prop 39 in 2012, which closed a corporate tax loophole to fund green jobs and energy-efficiency in schools.)
But his ascendance in the governor’s race has come at a price; the TV air war has taken a bizarre turn. While Steyer’s commercials dominated for many weeks, he is now facing a barrage of negative ads funded by some of California’s powerful corporate interests that are straight-facedly denouncing him for being a corporatist — of profiting from past investments his hedge fund made in fossil fuels and private prisons. We know who’s funding the attacks on Steyer thanks to California’s DISCLOSE Act, which requires that the top funders of campaign ads be listed in the bottom third of the TV screen.
Even though California has a strong Democratic electorate, it’s likely that only one of the party’s half-dozen serious aspirants will make it through the June 2 “jungle primary” to face a Republican in November. (Only the top two finishers in the primary will advance to the general election.) The five most recent polls show a race that is still in flux. Three surveys show Becerra leading Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host endorsed by Trump. The other two show Hilton in the lead, trailed by Steyer.
Steyer’s election could make him the effective “class traitor” that most Californians need him to be — a governor who stands up to corporate greed and power in the mold of President Franklin Roosevelt. Though not as rich as Steyer, Roosevelt certainly provides a role model as someone willing to fight the “economic royalists” he knew so well in order to uplift working people. Based on Steyer’s ads, he could very well follow Roosevelt’s example.
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