THEATER OF THE ABSURD
Lauren Boebert’s Democratic opponent has a plan to boot her out of Congress. It involves Beetlejuice.
- Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) may have switched districts, but she can’t run away from her scandalous past. The ultra-MAGA congresswoman jumped to a redder part of Colorado this year, following a close call in her last election. But now, her Democratic opponent is weaponizing one of Boebert’s most infamous gaffes, as part of a long-shot bid to take her down. That makes Boebert the latest MAGA member to get caught up in the Democrats’ national strategy to joyfully mock their opponents for being “weird.” Just check out the new ad by Boebert’s opponent, Trisha Calvarese, targeting Boebert’s most notorious caper: the time she got booted out of a performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical in Denver in a flurry of vaping, groping, flipping off staff, and generally causing a ruckus.
- “It’s weird, who flips off workers [and] lies about it?” Calvarese told What A Day. “Laughter is its own rebellion. Every joke about them is our own kind of victory, a rebellion and a win, especially if it can be done tastefully — but a bit tongue in cheek.”
- A “little bit of trolling” is a key part of Calvarese’s strategy. And there are signs that the ad has already bolstered her campaign. Actor Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker, dropped an endorsement: “C’mon Colorado, vote for competence over clownishness!” he wrote on X.
To be clear: Boebert starts out with a big advantage in this red district. But there are signs this race could be tight.
- Calvarese raised more than $750,000 from around the country in the first five weeks since gaining the Democratic nomination, reportedly rivaling the amount of cash Boebert has on hand. In May, a poll conducted for Calvarese’s team found that Boebert was ahead of her by 10 points — but the Democrat took the lead when respondents were told about “concerns about Boebert and positives for Calvarese.” Another poll found that Boebert is deeply unpopular within her home state.
- “She’s in it for the attention. Out on the eastern plains, folks don’t even know who she is, but they know the impacts of what she’s doing in Washington, D.C.,” Calvarese said. “Regardless of the party, they want somebody who’s going to run to represent the people.”
- Calvarese has grand plans if she makes her way to Washington. She wants to put guardrails on artificial intelligence and study how the tech could help average people, push through funding from the CHIPS and Science Act to improve America’s tech infrastructure, and work to keep the U.S. competitive with China on renewable energy tech, manufacturing, and cybersecurity (she also wants to join the House Select Committee on China). On reproductive rights, she said: “If I need access to fertility treatment, I don’t think it’s any of Lauren Boebert’s darn business. That’s my kind of freedom, making sure that we have access to birth control, to IVF, to abortion rights.”
Boebert has so far only agreed to a September 3rd debate in front of a live audience… that won’t be televised. Calvarese wants it on the air. “We need to debate on TV. That’s a basic qualification for the job,” Calvarese said. She hasn’t heard back from Boebert’s team — and neither have we.
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