August 29, 2024 09:56 AM UTC

Boebert's Opponent Trisha Calvarese Wants Lots Of Televised Debates

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• by: Colorado Pols

After winning the Republican primary to take over Ken Buck’s deep-red conservative congressional seat, Rep. Lauren Boebert has been on carpetbagging cruise control, spending more time helping her friends like Rep. Matt Gaetz keep their seats than campaigning for her own election. Boebert’s Democratic opponent Trisha Calvarese, who bested a troubled perennial candidate for the nomination, is fighting an acknowledged uphill battle in a district that hasn’t elected a Democrat since 2008. With that said, Calvarese is raising money and campaigning hard–and in a press release earlier this week, challenging Boebert to additional debates beyond a single untelevised forum not open to the general public they’ve already agreed to:

“Most regular folks have to go through an interview process when they want a specific job. Debating is part of that process for this job. That’s why I am challenging Lauren Boebert to participate in at least two televised debates this fall.

“Hard-working families and small businesses in Colorado are struggling to keep up with the soaring costs of food and care. Everywhere I go, people share their housing challenges. Every generation in the workforce is worried about jobs. We need a representative who will show up, listen, and help ordinary people rise to their everyday struggles and our shared challenges. With the right leadership, we can create opportunities, economic security for our families, a level playing field for small businesses, and keep America competitive.

“Rep. Lauren Boebert fled her old district to run here. People here do not know her. We both have a responsibility to participate in public debates to share what values we represent. It would be disrespectful to expect voters to hire us without hearing from us in a debate. I respect my neighbors and look forward to giving them a choice.”

While Calvarese and Boebert will meet for a debate on September 3rd, hosted by the Douglas County Economic Development Corporation, that luncheon debate requires a payment to entry for the general public and will not be televised.

Rep. Boebert does not have a very good track record when it comes to debates, being a format that requires no-notes command of the issues and where Boebert’s low-information bombast is subject to cross-examination. That’s probably why Boebert would be content to get through the whole election season with only a single nonpublic forum where the two candidates actually meet. But Calvarese is right that voters both in the district and across the country due to Boebert’s high national profile are entitled to much more–and if Boebert tries to skate through the general election by hiding from her Democratic opponent, that choice could become a brand all its own.