October 30, 2023 03:25 PM UTC

Boebert Pretends (Again) to Hit Reset Button

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• by: Colorado Pols

Back on September 15, when the #Beetlebert scandal was growing in size quicker than Rep. Lauren Boebert’s date at the Buell Theater in Denver, we wrote in this space that the vaping and the groping and the carrying on could be the thing that finally ended Boebert’s career in Congress:

#Beetlebert might well mark the beginning of the end of Lauren Boebert’s career in Congress precisely because it has nothing to do with politics.

We thought the #Beetlebert scandal would follow Boebert around throughout the rest of this year and 2024 because a) Her poor behavior was so relatable — everyone has experienced sitting near an obnoxious patron at a concert or sporting event, and b) She couldn’t blame her actions on Joe Biden or the “librul media.” Boebert screwed up, repeatedly, and a camera caught every angle.

Nearly two months after Boebert’s embarrassing public display of indecency, #Beetlebert is indeed here to stay. As Teague Bohlen writes for Westword:

Looks like Lauren Boebert is going to have to deal with Beetlejuice — or, more precisely, her bad behavior at and after she was escorted out of a performance of the show in September — for a while longer. It’s a story that just won’t die, much like the titular character himself. [Pols emphasis]

Rocky Mountain Values, a homegrown nonprofit originally formed to fight then-Senator Cory Gardner’s re-election bid in 2020, is on a three-city tour in Boebert’s 3rd Congressional District designed to highlight her “failed voting record on the issues [Coloradans] care about.” Specifically, the group points to Boebert voting against veterans’ benefits, refusing to support the lowering of prescription costs, and supporting a plan that would gut Medicare and Social Security.

In the process, Rocky Mountain Values is also reminding CD3 constituents about their rep’s unprofessionalism, particularly her decidedly-not-award-winning turn in the audience of the touring Broadway production of Beetlejuice at Denver’s Buell Theatre on September 10. She was ejected from the venue after being caught on camera vaping (and refusing to stop when a nearby pregnant woman asked her to do so) and engaging in some high school heavy petting with her date — and then lying about it for days before she was forced by the evidence to tell something approaching the truth.

As a reminder of Boebert’s terrible behavior — not to mention her terrible voting record — Rocky Mountain Values is setting up Beetlejuice-themed displays complete with candy giveaways. Two are planned for Halloween night, both at Boebert’s district offices in Durango (835 East 2nd Avenue from noon to 1 p.m.) and Pueblo (503 North Main, also from noon to 1 p.m.) [Pols emphasis]

It’s possible that nobody from Boebert’s staff will see the giant inflatable sand worm or get a chance to snag a piece of candy on Halloween; Boebert’s district offices are notorious for being closed no matter the day or time.

As for the Congressperson herself, Boebert might be out and about in CO-03 trying (again) to hit the reset button on a campaign that has been spinning out of control for most of 2023.

Jesse Bedayn of The Associated Press has the latest story on Boebert’s promise to turn over a new leaf with 2024 just two months away:

The [#Beetlebert] scandal threw a wrench into an already tough reelection bid. After Boebert won her last race by just 546 votes, she began revamping her campaign strategy. It now includes apologies to voters at campaign events for an episode that has rattled even loyal Republicans…[Pols emphasis]

…Expected to face a rematch with Democrat Adam Frisch, in a race that could determine which party controls Congress, Boebert tackled the embarrassment head-on at the Lincoln Day Dinner in Archuleta County.

“I owe each and every one of you here a deep, heartfelt apology,” she said as murmurs of agreement faded to attentive silence.

It’s an unusual tone for Boebert. The congresswoman’s unapologetic, Trumpian style had propelled her to MAGA stardom nationwide; now, she’s fighting for political survival at home.

[mantra-pullquote align=”right” textalign=”left” width=”70%”]“Most of us were like ‘holy cow.’ And one of the big reasons for that is a gap between how she presented herself as a Christian and what ended up happening.”

— Longtime Boebert backer Beverly Cuyler, as quoted by The Associated Press (10/30/23). Cuyler might be one of the only people in Colorado who were truly surprised by the #Beetlebert scandal.[/mantra-pullquote]

This is actually the second time that Boebert has attempted to throw a fresh coat of paint over her standard brand of nonsense performative politics. Boebert penned an OpEd for the Craig Daily Press on Nov. 17, 2022 in which she claimed that conservative Republicans were ready to govern — like, for reals this time — and abandon the partisan political nonsense that has long defined the GOP.

That lasted about three whole weeks.

By mid-December, Boebert was back to her old ways. Boebert Tweeted that “Republicans…must now prove we can take the temperature down in DC by leading not only with strength but grace,” and a few hours later blasted off another social media post mocking “wokeness” and the use of different pronouns. She just can’t help herself.

By July 2023, months before the #Beetlebert scandal, fellow Republicans in Colorado and in Washington DC were shaking their heads about why Boebert couldn’t manage to just put her head down and get to work for her constituents. Said former State Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams at the time:

“A lot of Republicans have been bewildered by her. She has not changed her operating style, either substantively or just generally.”

But THIS time is different, according to Bedayn at The Associated Press:

She’s offered olive branches to local newspapers she once spurned as biased. So-called ballot harvesting, which she’s decried as an underhanded Democratic tactic, will be part of her campaign strategy. Her supporters can attend boot camps to become versed in her talking points, which have partly shifted from national priorities to more local matters, a strategy endorsed by the state GOP.

“Her misstep in 2022 was not being as focused on (the district), so she’s making adjustments to not make that mistake again,” said Dave Williams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. [Pols emphasis]

Okay, but (again) we’ve heard this before.

Boebert probably knows that she needs to do her actual job and work on constituent services — but she knew that in late 2022. Boebert also seems to understand that her prior habit of attacking even the most benign news outlets in Colorado won’t help her spin anything in her favor for awhile. But color us skeptical about the chances of Boebert actually making a lasting change to her political persona.

One reason why this will be difficult is because Boebert has gone “all in” with her support of new House Speaker Mike “No T” Johnson.” Boebert is as responsible as any Republican for the 22 days of a Speaker-less House of Representatives — she has often bragged about working “behind the scenes” to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy — and now she’ll own all of Johnson’s right-wing ideologies as well.

Boebert was already vulnerable on the issue of veteran’s benefits, since she seems to vote against any effort to make those benefits more widely-available. Boebert was also already getting blasted for backing the budget ideas floated by the right-wing Republican Study Committee, which Johnson led prior to becoming Speaker. Those proposals include making significant cuts to Medicare and Social Security. Since becoming Speaker, numerous videos and interviews featuring Johnson’s opinions on entitlement reform have surfaced in which Johnson makes no effort to shy away from his opinion that Medicare and Social Security need to be cut, pronto.

Johnson can obviously get away with these opinions in his beet-red Louisiana Congressional district. Boebert most certainly cannot.

“I let you down. I fell short of my standards, and I’m taking full accountability of what you’ve seen and what you’ve heard,” said Boebert during her recent Southwestern Colorado apology tour. “And I will never put myself in a position to dishonor you.”

“Never” is doing a lot of work in that apology. If history is any indication, “never” means a period of time that is more like “three or four weeks.”

It might all be too little, too late anyway. Some of the biggest names in establishment Republican circles are lining up behind Republican Jeff Hurd (Barbora’s husband), and the narrative that Boebert is putting CO-03 at risk for Republicans is taking hold (it was even mentioned in the AP story above).

The “New Boebert” could potentially hold off Hurd, but not without expending so many resources as to be hopelessly behind Democrat Adam Frisch in a General Election rematch (Frisch has proven to be the most prolific fundraiser of all the 2024 Democratic challengers running for Congress).

Had she actually stuck with the “New Boebert” suit that she tried on in late November, Boebert might already be making headway as someone her constituents can trust. In that universe, perhaps the #Beetlebert scandal never even happens.

Or not. At the end of the day, Boebert is as Boebert does.