John Phillips: Tom Steyer is one Golden Gate Bridge too far for California

Here is the corrected version of your column. I’ve fixed the spacing issues, hyphenated the compound adjectives, and cleaned up the punctuation for better flow while keeping your specific voice intact.

California, it’s been said, is a state of mind. A feeling. A vibe. But, politically speaking, California is a big, kind of dumb, expensive state, where mere mortals struggle to make it to the November ballot in top-of-the-ticket races. While it’s not required that California candidates all come from famous political dynasties, belt home runs for the Dodgers, or star in big-budget blockbusters while still mastering English, such traits are certainly helpful when it comes to getting your name and message in front of voters.

The current crop of candidates running for governor is dealing with this reality right now. So far, none of them have been able to break away from the pack and establish themselves as the clear frontrunner in the race.

But one candidate, billionaire enviro-sugar-daddy Tom Steyer, clearly thinks his El Chapo-sized pile of cash will be the difference-maker in his quest for the governor’s mansion—a move which, in his case, would be downsizing.

Earlier this month, Steyer poured another $9.3 million into his campaign, bringing his total spend to just over $38 million… and counting.

In a post on X, Rob Pyers, Research Director for the non-partisan California Target Book, said, “To put Steyer’s $38 million into perspective, by my math, Republicans Steve Hilton & Chad Bianco and Democrats Antonio Villaraigosa, Eric Swalwell, Katie Porter, Xavier Becerra, Betty Yee, and Tony Thurmond have raised a combined total of around $34.3 million.”

Yikes. Mountain, meet molehill.

According to Republican political strategist John Thomas, this is Steyer’s game plan. On my radio program on KABC-AM 790, Thomas told me, “He [Steyer] believes in a state as large as California, where it’s very difficult to do retail politicking… his advantage will be his levels of spending, and being able to get his name ID up, and message out. We’ll see how valuable that is.”

Thomas added, “I would say having a lot of money in California is powerful in a contest like this. Tom is going to spend two, three hundred million dollars in this race.”

Great. Because if there’s one thing we’re all looking for in a governor, it’s a willingness to throw literally hundreds of millions of dollars around like there’s no tomorrow.

Hey, Democrats, how’s that “getting the money out of politics” thing working out for you?

Ugh. Why can’t he be like all of the other insufferable rich guys in California and just buy the Clippers to kill the boredom?

Pssst, Tom… have you thought about just braiding your hair and joining a drum circle?

While it’s true that running for office is Steyer’s hobby, there is zero evidence to suggest that he’s good at it.

In 2020, “Captain Climate Change” Steyer ran for president—of the United States, that is—in the Democratic primary. When the dust finally settled, he had spent $345 million on his campaign and earned no—as in “net zero”—delegates. Then, in a bold move nobody saw coming, Steyer abruptly suspended his campaign the night of the South Carolina primary. In total, each vote that he received in the primary cost him roughly $3,000.

So let’s review: $345 million down the drain, zero delegates won, and an early exit. Experts agree, this campaign was downright Kamalian!

Then, last year, when Californians were debating Proposition 50, Gavin Newsom’s attempt to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts along partisan lines, Steyer spent between $12–$13 million promoting the initiative.

While Newsom’s measure passed overwhelmingly, internal research from the official Yes on Prop 50 campaign found that Steyer’s two television ads ranked dead last when measured for effectiveness of voter persuasion.

According to Politico, Steyer’s direct-to-camera ad swayed only 43 percent of respondents toward supporting the measure, while 52 percent said it made them less likely to vote yes.

His second ad, which included a Donald Trump impersonator throwing French fries at the television for some reason, performed even worse.

Imagine that. Yes, nothing gets out the vote like a TV campaign ad that looks like a strip mall grand opening.

As the great Dorothy Parker once said about rich guys, “If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.”

Despite the fact that most California voters are experiencing suicidal ideation when they go into the voting booth, I feel confident predicting that this Steyer buffoon is going to be one bridge too far… even for them.

Tom Steyer’s hypocrisy alone is enough to turn voters off.

For a guy obsessed with climate change, all Tom Steyer ever seems to do is spew out a lot of hot air and then light his money on fire.

John Phillips can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on “The John Phillips Show” on KABC/AM 790.