Yet another contender might enter the contest for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and this time it's not an officeholder but the very uppermost Democratic donor in the country: billionaire hedge fund manager and activist Tom Steyer. The Atlantic reports that even after pulling the plug on a planned campaign announcement early this year, Steyer told staffers at both his NextGen America and Need to Impeach organizations that he will enter the race on Tuesday.
While Steyer's move would be unusual, to say the least, it would not necessarily be a mirror of fellow billionaire Howard Schultz's bizarre and quixotic presidential ambitions. Steyer is a longtime and staunchly progressive activist who has both founded and funded numerous left-leaning organizations for years; a signatory of the "Giving Pledge,” he pledges to donate half of his fortune to charity during his lifetime. He is a fierce advocate for the impeachment of Donald Trump. He's also been a rumored candidate for other top-level Democratic races in the last few years.
That said, it is difficult to understand why Steyer would choose now to make the long-rumored, already once-cancelled move. He is reportedly pleased with candidate Elizabeth Warren's economic agenda; he is reportedly displeased with Democratic slow-walking of impeachment hearings. The Atlantic cites sources who say Steyer sees an opening to challenge Trump as an actual self-made billionaire. It may be that regardless of the outcome, Steyer believes self-financing a presidential bid of his own will allow him to reshape the presidential conversation and bring his own priorities, from clean energy to a more aggressive accounting of Trump’s corrupt acts, to the fore.
But he could do those things from his current activist perch, and without further muddying an already overstuffed presidential field that has multiple top-contending woman candidates and candidates of color who agree broadly with Steyer's own agenda, while bringing additional qualifications and expertise of their own.
Steyer risks being recast as a would-be white male billionaire spoiler, and certainly will face questions as to how he came to believe that only he, and not any of the previously announced and well-qualified candidates, could lead the nation through its troubles. Regardless of Steyer's ability to self-finance, there seems only the most microscopic of paths toward qualifying for the next debate stages at this late date. Just making the bid necessarily means placing himself as an adversary, rather than an ally, of the most serious progressive contenders.
Those risks are probably higher than the rewards. Hopefully Steyer will reconsider once again. He may be a stalwart progressive ally, but that does not mean the party base has been looking for a white male billionaire to deliver them from the current Democratic presidential field.