Dems’ Clown Show Rolls On: Swalwell Out, Steyer In

As the post-Mueller Democratic Party, starved of ammunition against President Trump and racked by internal dissent, starts to come apart at the seams, we are witnessing the fraying from top to bottom.

At the top of the food chain, the presidential field has boxed itself into a neo-socialist corner, while party leader Nancy Pelosi openly feuds with the militant progressive wing of the party led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). The Speaker is furious that these upstarts are drawing constant attention and dragging the Democratic brand dangerously leftward with a presidential election on the horizon.

But it is the bottom-feeders who reveal even more about the Democrats circa 2019. As one of the most pathetic and short-lived candidacies in recent memory ends with a thud, another more well-funded but utterly hypocritical campaign is set to begin.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), 38, the once-obscure congressman who made a name for himself by throwing scurrilous allegations about President Trump against the wall for months on end, only to find that none of them stuck, is bringing to a merciful end a campaign that was defined by the esteemed congressman citing how he changes his son’s diapers -- and tying it to his service in Congress. I kid you not. Here is the money quote from Swalwell’s one (and only) debate performance: “When I’m not changing diapers, I’m changing Washington.”

And he actually ran campaign ads based on the same theme. Only he included pictures of him -- you guessed it -- changing diapers.

Swalwell will further be defined -- if anyone actually cares enough to do so -- as a millennial punk who essentially told Joe Biden to leave the stage because he’s too old and fired a cheap shot at Pete Buttigieg about the mayor’s handling of a sensitive police shooting in his town.

But fear not, the Democrats’ traveling clown show won’t lose a beat, with word that billionaire hedge-fund titan Tom Steyer has reversed his decision to stay out of the race and now plans to play presidential politics along with the remaining two dozen candidates, only five of whom have any shot at the nomination.

For all we hear about the megabucks of leftist bankroller George Soros, Mr. Steyer has flown largely under the radar despite pumping tens of millions of dollars into left-wing causes, primarily efforts to combat climate change. But here is the catch: As environmental alarmism was becoming increasingly de rigueur in the Democratic Party, Steyer was amassing the bulk of his fortune from -- wait for it -- fossil fuels. Coal to be specific.

Mr. Steyer’s hedge fund, Farallon Capital Management, raked in millions of dollars in profits from coal-related investments around the world. These projects will generate tens of millions of tons of carbon “pollution” for untold decades to come.

But now he wants to seek absolution by paying in spades for all the environmental damage he caused, one supposes. He is a born-again environmental extremist, repenting his past sins and vowing to shut down people making money exactly the same way he did. Americans have proven willing to forgive lies, but rank hypocrisy is another matter.

It is perhaps too easy to point out this obvious attempt by Mr. Steyer to alleviate his white liberal guilt. But with his virtue-signaling now expanded to the grand scale of a presidential campaign, Mr. Steyer will face the klieg lights of a down-and-dirty Democratic primary and says he will throw at least $100 million -- more than the top five candidates combined to date -- at his effort to ride the outsider wave created by President Trump. But even The New York Times is skeptical of his candidacy, describing Mr. Steyer as a “quirky patrician … a 62-year-old white man in a Democratic Party preoccupied with racial diversity and gender equality.” A true wake-up call is when even the gray leftist lady is forced to admit how far off the rails its favorite party has wandered.

His campaign, launched in a rollout video featuring the billionaire’s carefully crafted appeal to the little people, complete with the requisite rolled-up sleeves, is the latest stop in Mr. Steyer’s evolving focus on the evils of a system that enriched his own coffers beyond measure. First, it was the climate change issue; for the last two years, it’s been all about impeaching Trump -- he poured millions into pro-impeachment ads during the 2018 midterm campaign. Now, his video announcement condemns corruption and greed, pouncing on easy targets such as drug companies for profiteering and banks for “screwing people on their mortgages.” He apparently fancies himself a left-wing version of Trump the populist. Maybe Bernie without the charm?

Like most every other Democrat presidential candidate, Mr. Steyer endorses essentially open borders (decriminalizing illegal border crossings), but more revealing is his support for expanding the size of the Supreme Court. After all, Trump got the last two picks for the high court and may get more, so what better way to even the score than to just go ahead and pack the court with progressives? Perhaps Mr. Steyer is unaware that, when no less than President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried that some 80 years ago near the height of his popularity, he was slapped down with impunity.

And so the only remaining question in this self-destructive Democratic primary, other than who will stagger across the finish line first, is whether yet more men and/or women will see fit to enter the party conga line. Who knows? Maybe the presence of Mr. Steyer and his (now) ill-gotten gains will chase away many of the political Lilliputians seeking their 15 minutes of fame.

Farewell, Rep. Swalwell. It’s a shame we hardly knew ye. Good luck in your journey of redemption, Mr. Steyer. You’ll need it -- and a whole lot more than money.

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