September 05, 2023 01:29 PM UTC

Boebert Straight-Up Tells Supporters She's Going To Lose

• 7 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

As Austin Corona at the Aspen Daily News reports, fundraising email blasts from Colorado’s vexatiously vulnerable Rep. Lauren Boebert have taken a dark turn since the release of the late August poll showing her narrowly losing to Democratic challenger Adam Frisch:

Rep. Lauren Boebert’s campaign sent three emails to supporters last week expressing concern over polling that showed the second-term congresswoman trailing her potential 2024 Democratic opponent, former Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch, by 2 percentage points…

“If we don’t turn things around quickly, we could lose this seat to the Democrats. I can’t believe I’m saying those words, but I need you to understand how dire this situation is. [Frisch’s] latest internal polls have him beating us by two points,” read an email sent by Boebert’s campaign on Aug. 29.

The email from Wednesday, Aug. 30, written by former Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, stated that Boebert was being “pummeled” by Frisch.

“If the Election were held today … Lauren would lose,” the email read… [Pols emphasis]

And the bad news packaged like a bitter pill for Boebert’s diehard supporters doesn’t stop there:

All three emails added that Frisch is outraising the Boebert campaign. This year, Frisch has raised $4.4 million, the fourth largest amount raised by any of the more than 1,200 congressional candidates who have announced runs for 2024. Boebert, meanwhile, has raised $1.6 million, putting her in 30th place.

Relaying bad news to one’s supporters in order to build urgency is nothing new in campaign fundraising, but in Boebert’s case the situation is a little more problematic. Boebert is reacting to her opponent’s internal polling, but instead of discounting it as such or focusing on the results being a statistical tie, she’s conceded the whole frame of the race to Frisch by agreeing she would lose if the election were held today. Republican donors understand, or at least they should by now, that Boebert’s vulnerability is disproportionate to the district’s conservative lean. Boebert is being “pummeled” in a race that otherwise would not be as competitive, and the reason is Boebert.

This in turn explains Boebert’s lackluster fundraising since barely winning re-election by 546 votes last November. Boebert’s unsuccessful holdout struggle to deny Speaker Kevin McCarthy his gavel in January placed Boebert on the wrong side of the national GOP’s fundraising machine, and the result is clear enough that McCarthy doesn’t have to say a word.

Boebert is asking Republicans to throw good money after bad, and everybody knows it now.

If there’s anyone who didn’t, Boebert will explain it to them herself.