“Hard Sell” Lauren Boebert Faces Tough Battle in New District
(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert’s political future could be decided this week as Colorado voters in a new district head to the polls, where she is proving to be a “hard sell” to skeptical conservatives.
According to the New York Times’s Michelle Cottle, who has been on the campaign trail with the controversial lawmaker, Boebert jumped districts months ago when it looked like she would not make the cut with voters who had previously supported her but then grew tired of her act.
Cottle reports that Boebert has been running herself ragged crisscrossing the new district, where turnout for her appearances has numbered in the dozens. She has also toned down the fiery rhetoric that turned off her previous supporters.
“One of the surprises during my time with Ms. Boebert was how many awkward or uncertain moments she seemed to have — at voter events, in debates or simply standing unnoticed in a crowd,” Cottle wrote. “In unguarded moments, she looks reserved and tentative — she has a tendency to nervously smooth down her long hair — and seems braced for someone to say something mean. She can easily get lost in a crowd.”
Boebert’s reputation with conservative voters has preceded her, as she attempts “to convince them she is more than a self-serving agent of chaos” and “an ineffective, attention-hungry, disruptive drama queen.”
One voter who sat in a sparse crowd listening to her pitch remains unconvinced, telling Cottle, “I’m still trying to get my mind around the idea of her winning.”
More worrisome for Boebert is the fact that, with just a few days before the primary, many voters are still on the fence after she has spent months campaigning.
“Plenty of Republicans in Ms. Boebert’s new district have their doubts about her. A Kaplan Strategies poll from late May found that less than half of likely G.O.P. primary voters viewed her favorably,” the New York Times reported.
As Boebert works to win over her new district, the stakes are high. Her efforts to reshape her image and appeal to a broader base will be tested in the upcoming primary. The outcome will determine whether her attempt to start fresh in a new district pays off or if her controversial past continues to haunt her political career.
