California billionaire Tom Steyer poured $8 million into the Virginia governor’s race and helped propel Terry McAuliffe to victory. His group, NextGen Climate Action, essentially bought Politico off the story of just how dishonest a campaign he was running, by bringing them into their campaign nexus.
During the final three months of the race, POLITICO had extensive behind-the-scenes access to Steyer’s shadow campaign. Along with the smaller seven-figure sum Steyer spent in a Massachusetts special election earlier this year, his Virginia campaign represents a down payment on a sustained effort to defeat Republicans who question climate science — and activate voters who want government action on climate change.
From inside the campaign, Politico was unlikely to fact check trash like this:
When the NextGen digital and mail campaigns ramped up in September and October, that kitchen-sink approach was immediately evident, as the Steyer gang’s message tore at Cuccinelli on multiple issues with climate at the center. “From wasting taxpayer money in a failed lawsuit against UVA because he disagreed with their climate change research to opposing birth control, Ken Cuccinelli is out of touch,” read one mailer that went out in mid-September.
Multiple mail pieces that went out in mid-October noted not only that Cuccinelli disputes climate science “even though NASA and 98% of climate scientists agree that it is a real danger,” they also said he wants “to eliminate all forms of birth control” and wanted to “let criminals, even those convicted of sexually abusing children, buy guns at gun shows.”
The distortions in those mailers are large enough to create a political black hole. Which is what Politico became, once it was taken inside the leftwinger’s campaign.
The leftwing billionaire spent millions on the Virginia race smearing Cucinelli, and says he plans to similarly invade other states with his dishonest, junk science, politics of personal destruction approach.
Politico will probably be right there with him, never once raising a flag about the eeeevils of big money in politics, or the outrageously dishonest content of the campaigns Steyer runs. You won’t hear anyone on the left breathe a word against this guy, while in the very next second they’ll slam the Koch brothers and the Adelsons and moan about the Citizens United decision.
Progressives don’t really hate big money in politics. They just hate conservatives, period.
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