California billionaire Tom Steyer may be reconsidering his decision last January to remove himself as a possible candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, according to a new report.
A citizen in Iowa recently recorded a robocall that tested political messaging related to Steyer, according to a report from Iowa Starting Line.
For example, after asking the participant routine questions such as whether the country was on the right track or wrong track, moments later the call recipient was asked:
On a 1-10 scale, how appealing is the description to you:
1. A candidate who led the largest grassroots effort in history to mobilize young people to vote
2. A candidate who says it’s time to take our government back from corporations and the rich
3. A candidate who says one of his or her top priorities is to make our economy more fair for working class families
4. A candidate who says he or she will make passing the Green New Deal proposal one of his or her top priorities
5. A candidate who will focus on bringing the country together and bridging partisan divisions
6. A candidate who is not afraid to criticize his or her own political party when it is doing something they do not believe is right
7. A candidate who favors passing a Medicare for All bill providing universal healthcare
8. A candidate who strongly supports impeaching President Trump
The call also asked the person on the call to give their opinion of numerous "elected officials or public figures," and listed Steyer alongside others such as Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn), Cory Booker (D., N.J.) and Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.). All of the public figures mentioned in the call are declared candidates for president with the exceptions of Steyer and former Vice President Joe Biden (D., Del.) who is widely believed to be announcing soon.
"[W]ith an unsettled field with no clear front-runner, Steyer could still jump right in, starting out with a large financial advantage and a massive email list," Iowa Starting Line noted.
For much of the fall and winter of 2018-19, Steyer appeared to be laying the groundwork for a presidential campaign not only with his "Need To Impeach" campaign and climate-related efforts of his NextGen America PAC, but also with a "5 Rights" campaign that Steyer was promoting through town halls held in crucial early voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
A request for comment on the Iowa robocall has been placed with numerous media representatives to Steyer, and a comment will be added to this story as soon as it is received.
However, in early January, Steyer announced from a downtown Des Moines hotel that he wasn't running.
"I said last year that I'm willing to do whatever I can to protect our country from this reckless, lawless, and dangerous president," he said at the time. "Every day since, Mr. Trump has revealed new depths to his incompetence, his corruption, and his cruelty. The threat he poses to the American people has only grown."
"Now, the impeachment question has reached an inflection point. Therefore, I will be dedicating 100 percent of my time, effort, and resources to one cause: working for Mr. Trump’s impeachment and removal from office. I am not running for president at this time."
Steyer has poured millions into his "Need to Impeach" campaign, the latest iterations of which have aimed to put pressure on chairs of key house committees, like Rep. Jerry Nadler (D., N.Y.) of the House Judiciary Committee.