A Rootin' Tootin' Cowgirl

 

“…Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) is an unabashed, social media-savvy loyalist of former President Donald Trump who, like her fellow first-term colleague GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, is stoking controversy with her far-right views and defiant actions. But unlike Greene, Boebert doesn’t hail from an overwhelmingly GOP, safe district. That makes Boebert a test case for whether even a slight partisan advantage will inevitably empower the most extreme elements of a party. The question strategists in Colorado and elsewhere in this divided country are asking is whether Boebert is a fluke — or the future…

“Boebert, 34, who owns a gun-themed restaurant in the town of Rifle, began making waves immediately. In her first month in office, she filmed a video in which she purported to carry a pistol in defiance of the District of Columbia’s anti-gun laws, argued for the right to bring firearms onto the House floor, voted to overturn President Joe Biden’s election and tweeted about the whereabouts of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Jan. 6, leading to allegations — that she vehemently denies — that she was helping Trump loyalists who attacked the U.S. Capitol…

“In an interview, Boebert said the district’s voters are eager for disruption. ‘My constituents are tired of the old go along to get along we often see in politicians,’ she said. Boebert insists she and the rest of the first-term class of lawmakers are the future, even in districts like hers. ‘It is the America First movement that you’re seeing nationally and definitely in my district,’ she said…

“Boebert’s first bills as a congresswoman — opposing Biden’s mask-wearing mandate on federal property and withholding funds for rejoining the Paris climate accord and the World Health Organization — will go nowhere. But her decrying of Biden’s pause on oil and gas drilling on federal lands, which comprise 55% of the district, has been embraced by voters who depend on the industry…” (AP News).