Think he’ll get the same treatment as the Koch brothers?

A hedge-fund billionaire throws his money around in an attempt to influence an election. He believes in a “smash-mouth, confrontational style of politics.” So why does Tom Steyer not face the same type of media vilification as the Koch brothers? Because he’s a climate alarmist, of course, as the latest Bloomberg Businessweek describes.

Steyer, 55, a major Democratic contributor, quit Farallon to devote his time and much of his money to changing this reality. In doing so, he’s joined an emerging class of billionaires—including this magazine’s owner, Michael Bloomberg and Facebook (FB) co-founder Mark Zuckerberg—who have forsaken the traditional approach of working through the political parties and instead jumped directly into the fray, putting their reputations and fortunes behind a cause. …

… On March 18, Steyer, a vocal opponent of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would pump tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast, clumsily inserted himself into the Massachusetts Democratic primary race between Representatives Edward Markey and Stephen Lynch for the state’s open Senate seat. Channeling John Wayne, Steyer penned a bullying letter demanding that Lynch renounce his support for the pipeline “by high noon” a few days later or face the wrath of all the opposition Steyer and his checkbook could muster. Lynch’s campaign dismissed the stunt as “billionaires issuing ultimatums.” The Boston Globe chastised Steyer for butting into a race in which both candidates had pledged to eschew PAC support. Markey probably doesn’t even need the support: Polls consistently give him a solid lead.

But after the searing defeat in Congress three years ago of legislation to cap carbon emissions, Steyer and many other Democrats preoccupied with climate change are convinced that only a smash-mouth, confrontational style of politics can save the planet.

I won’t hold my breath waiting for the stampede of stinging diatribes detailing the depths to which our democracy has descended because of these left-leaning rich guys’ political activity.