You are unlikely to enjoy any television advertisement you see today as much as you will the one-minute spot seen above, an advertisement coming to a TV commercial break near you and unapologetically calling for the immediate impeachment of President Donald Trump. According to the Associated Press, the ads are financed by cigarette tax advocate, climate activist, and Democratic megadonor Tom Steyer, the host of the 2013 fundraiser at which Barack Obama declared Kamala Harris to be attractive. Details of the ad’s channels and run dates were not announced in the report, but the AP describes it as a “national television advertising campaign” in which Steyer will invest “at least $10 million.”
“A Republican Congress once impeached a President for far less,” a stern Steyer says, looking earnestly into the camera in the ad. “Yet today, people in Congress and his own administration know that this president is a clear and present danger who is mentally unstable and armed with nuclear weapons. And they do nothing.”
Steyer’s front-and-center presence in the ad is probably no accident. The AP also notes that “his investment comes as he considers running against U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a fellow Democrat,” in the 2018 U.S. Senate race for DiFi’s seat. Perhaps Steyer is who Willie Brown was referring to in his latest San Francisco Chronicle homily wherein he claimed that Feinstein’s list of possible 2018 opponents included dark horses "wealthy enough to mount a sustained negative campaign." (Steyer’s net worth is listed as $1.6 billion.)
Unsurprisingly, Republicans are dismissive of the impeachment ads. “If Democrats want to appease the far left and their liberal mega-donors by supporting a baseless, radical effort that the vast majority of Americans disagree with, then have at it,” Republican National Committee spokesperson Michael Ahrens told the AP.
Houston-area representative Al Green (D) does not wish to stay together with Trump, and did introduce articles of impeachment in early October. But a vote is not scheduled, and the resolution is considered symbolic. Let’s be honest, a Republican congress will not impeach Trump no matter how often he goes full racist or insults them on Twitter. Trump can be impeached, alright, but not unless the Congress turns Democratic in 2018.
And to Tom Steyer, those 2018 elections are what these ads are likely really all about.
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