‘I don’t think it’s about money’: Steyer says his SC campaign is about the message
Democratic presidential hopeful Tom Steyer was in Chester Monday to talk with voters. Before the event, The Herald got an exclusive interview with the hedge-fund billionaire from California. Steyer, who has sunk millions into his South Carolina campaign, has been rising in the polls — even competing for second place.
Here is a summary of the questions he answered. Some answers have been edited for brevity.
Steyer will hold a town hall at the Freedom Center in Rock Hill Monday night.
Some reports say you’ve got the largest statewide operation of any other campaign in South Carolina. Why are you targeting South Carolina?
We’re really serious about all the early primary states. This is the first early primary state that has a significant African American population. One of the things that I’ve been saying is there is no way that anybody can represent the Democratic Party without representing the diversity of the Democratic Party. This is a state that has particular significance for that reason. Nevada has significance as well because it has a big Latino population. But we’ve thought from the very beginning that South Carolina had a lot of importance in and of itself, and a lot of importance in terms of signaling how that was going to work out.
It’s pretty well known that Joe Biden has maintained a commanding lead among black voters in South Carolina. But you are one of the candidates who has taken some of that support. What was part of your strategy to make that happen?
I’ve never believed that anybody owns voters. I’ve always believed that voters are smart and that they’re listening, and so that’s why I’ve tried to come here a lot. That’s why we have people on the ground from South Carolina, going out and talking to people directly. And that’s why I’ve personally spent time here and my family has spent time here because, first of all, to make sure that we’re hearing what’s going on here and learning what’s going on directly.
And second of all, for people to be able to see me and see who I am and what I’m saying, but also what kind of person I am — I think that’s really important. And it’s not in the context of any other candidate. It’s just trying to establish a direct relationship with people here in terms of who they are and who I am.
Were you disappointed with the Iowa results?
We want to compete in every early state. It’s a caucus state, which has its own issues as everybody now understands. We got in later than everybody else. I’m really glad we went there. I thought it was really important to do that. We have New Hampshire, and then we’ll have Nevada and South Carolina. I think it’s really important to do that and to really get the diversity of America. And so no, Iowa served its purpose for us.
Is the spending here proportional to what you spent in Iowa?
Look, I don’t think it’s about money. I’ve never thought it was about money. I’ve always thought that the question in this race for everyone is message. Do you have something different to say? Do you have something important to say? Do you have something that resonates with Democratic primary voters? And, do they trust you? And if you can’t answer those questions, then you can’t win.
I’m a different candidate from everybody else. I’m not a career politician. I’m somebody who spent 10 years beating corporations from the outside, putting together coalitions. I have a different set of priorities than other people in this race.
I’m willing to put in term limits. No one else seems to even want to talk about that...I’m somebody who said, ‘We’re going to go after climate, but we’re going to do it in the context of environmental justice.’
I’m saying something different. I have a different history from everybody else. And I’m trying to make sure that people know both what I’m talking about and what I’ve done about it because I’ve been working on some of these problems for 35 years. I can say anything I want, but I can’t make up the past. And I have a proven success record in virtually every one of these progressive areas of accomplishment over a long period of time.
And lastly, I can say this, as a business person who built a business from scratch, I can take Trump down on the economy because he’s a liar. He’s a failed business person. He’s a terrible economic president for the American people. He’s really got the Mar-a-Lago economy. It’s an economy that works for rich people. It’s an economy that doesn’t work for working people. People don’t earn enough in this economy to live.
The money has been redistributed to his friends at the Mar-a-Lago Country Club and away from working Americans. I can make that case really well because I spent decades understanding what drives economics, job growth and prosperity.
What do you say to voters who might think you’re buying support?
I don’t think you can. My belief is voters are smart. They make up their minds based on what people are saying and who they think those people are, and a lot of that is based on what they’ve done. So, I don’t see it that way.
And look, I think last I checked, we still live in the United States. People are ambitious here. People want to succeed. So, I don’t think people look down on success, and I don’t think they should. I built a business. I walked away from it. I took The Giving Pledge to give the bulk of my money away while I’m alive. I don’t feel embarrassed that I succeeded and I don’t feel embarrassed with the way I’ve handled my success. I basically used it to try and do good things and that’s exactly what I’m doing right now.
Do you ever get tired of people identifying you as a billionaire?
No because the truth is once people meet me, that goes away in the flesh. I think if you meet me you realize I’m a pretty normal guy. And that isn’t how I think of myself.
A lot of times, I will tell people my family history, so they’ll realize my mom was a teacher in the New York public schools and taught prisoners of the Brooklyn House of Detention...My grandfather was a plumber and my father graduated from college at 18. He’s somebody who changed the trajectory of his life through education.
And so, I never feel as if I’m some snooty person. I don’t belong to Mar-a-Lago. I would never consider belonging to Mar-a-Lago. I don’t hang out with those people. This is my eighth year, full time as a political organizer. I’ve never organized at a country club and I never will because they don’t want me and I don’t want them. I think people figure out really fast that I’m a pretty normal guy.
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 3:18 PM with the headline "‘I don’t think it’s about money’: Steyer says his SC campaign is about the message."
