Tom Steyer can spend all he wants, but he can’t change this

Is there a “for sale” sign outside the governor’s mansion?

Tom Steyer sure hopes so.

The billionaire has spent about $200 million (and counting) on his own campaign in the June 2 primary.

That eclipses the state record of $178.5 million set by former eBay exec Meg Whitman in the primary and general elections for governor in 2010.

Tom Steyer, Democratic candidate for governor of California, speaks at a campaign rally. ZUMAPRESS.com

And it comes after Steyer dropped about $340 million on his pipe-dream bid for the US presidency in 2020. 

It’s all a bit unseemly, even desperate, as if the ex-hedge-fund manager knows he can’t win on ideas, policy or leadership chops.

So now he’s paid for a seat at the grown-ups’ table.

By flooding the state with ads, he ensures that many voters are acquainted with his name, some crumbs of his propaganda, and his animus toward President Trump.

But all the spending can’t change a basic truth: Steyer –– a phony, a radical, a hypocrite –– is a poor fit for public office. 

He’s a billionaire who’s somehow against billionaires. Only other ones, though. He, himself, is the exception to the rule that billionaires are bad.

He also amassed a chunk of his (vast) fortune by investing in oil, gas and coal. Yet now he rails against fossil fuels with the zeal of a preacher. He favors imposing sweeping costs on the same safe, cheap, reliable energy that helped make him rich.

Another batch of his wealth came from investing in private prisons, including one that now runs a couple of California detention centers used by ICE to hold illegal immigrants. Steyer says, in effect, that he’s now seen the light and favors abolishing ICE. Funny how the revelations always appear after, and never before, guys like Steyer collect bank.

Meanwhile, Steyer’s campaign claims to prize transparency. This, after he spread money to myriad digital influencers with orders to promote the billionaire’s agenda without necessarily mentioning his name –– or the fact that he was paying them. 

His campaign also peddles ball caps emblazoned with the words “class traitor.” But if Steyer meant that, wouldn’t he just give away enough of his money –– and not merely pledge to do so –– to tumble down a “class” or two (or 10)?

The list goes on.

Steyer’s campaign is all stunts, activism and platitudes.

He’s reportedly spent 20 times more than the other Democratic front-runner in the primary, the bland former Biden Cabinet secretary Xavier Becerra.

So will voters let Steyer buy the governorship? Doubtful.

It’s too easy to see that his hypocrisy, like his wallet, knows no bounds.

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