Tom Steyer on Government Reform Democratic Presidential Challenger; CEO

I'm the only candidate who'll talk about term limits

If you want bold change in the United States, you're going to have to have new and different people in charge. I'm the only person on this stage who will talk about term limits. Vice President Biden won't. Senator Sanders won't. Even Mayor Pete Buttigieg will not talk about term limits and structural change. I would let the American people pass laws themselves through direct democracy. It's time to push the power back to the people and away from D.C.

Electoral victories require high turnout among young people

But what we've found at NextGen America is that is the start of a conversation about why votes are so important. And if you look at 2018 and flipping the House, what really happened was Democratic voting went up. In the 38 congressional districts where NextGen America was turning out young people, the turnout went up by more than 100%, more than double.

So for us to win, for whoever's the candidate, to have a Senate that's Democratic, it's a turnout question. We're going to have to tell the truth and we're going to organize across this country.

The right to vote is gateway to inclusive democracy

Calling out "voter fraud" is an old Republican tactic used to suppress the votes of students, veterans, low-income people, seniors, and people of color. The only ones responsible for creating this breakdown in civil society, are those state legislatures passing voter ID laws, and carrying out voter purges. A healthy democracy depends on the broadest participation possible, one that is of, by and for the people.

12-year Congressional term limits for generational shift

STEYER: What I have done for the last 10 years is to try and organize Americans at the grassroots to push for justice throughout the society. So in this case, I understand that there may be people in the Congress who will push for the wrong thing, and it seems to me the only real way to push back against them is to go to the grassroots and get the people, their constituents, to push. I've also talked about putting in term limits for congresspeople and senators. One of the things that's true in the United States about attitudes towards the LGBTQ community is that there's been a generational shift. And if we, in fact, push through what I've talked about, that people in D.C. find very awkward and unnerving, 12-year term limits for congresspeople and senators, we'd get a wave of new blood into the Congress of the United States.