"Need To Impeach": Steyer's Forsaken Child

In a clear-eyed, frank moment, billionaire Dem candidate Tom Steyer would probably acknowledge he's a long shot to win the Dem nomination for President. Despite his presence on the Dem debate stage, he's polling about 1% in national polls, a number that hasn't moved much since he announced his candidacy this past summer. Before vastly wealthier billionaire Michael Bloomberg announced his candidacy, Steyer was criticized by other Dems for trying to buy the nomination though an aggressive TV and social media ad campaign.

It's not just his large purchases of ad time for his nomination run that rankles some, it was what they see as his use of his "Need to Impeach" campaign as a device to advance his personal political dreams. During the course of the "Need to Impeach" campaign, eight million donors were gathered, their names forming an enviable mailing list data base for a progressive candidate like Steyer. It also raised his public profile. Although Steyer said he wouldn't run for President as late as last January, he reversed that decision and offered his "Need to Impeach" staff the option of a modest severance or working on his new Presidential campaign.

"At the very moment Democrats need mass mobilization around impeachment, the guy who sank tons of time, energy, and money into the effort has instead embarked on what will likely be an ill-fated White House run. Though he’s polling well enough in some early states to make the debate stage, he’s averaging 1 percent support nationally in the polls. [snip]

As public impeachment hearings have kicked off, Need to Impeach merits a victory lap — something it once thought was dead in the water is actually happening."

What concerns the remaining staffers at "Need to Impeach" is the reduction of their resources that would have helped get the facts out that the House impeachment inquiry hearings have laid bare. In the view of some that were involved in that effort, the timing of long-shot Steyer's change in priorities couldn't have come at a worse time.