On Tuesday, a PAC Called “American Muckrakers” sent out a press release claiming that Lauren Boebert had two abortions and worked as an escort / sugarbaby in her younger years. This was kinda-sorta picked up by real media outlets (here’s the MSN story). I read the supporting evidence on the PAC’s fireboebert.com website, and I think the whole thing is probably bogus. The sole “proof” offered up is screenshots of text messages with an anonymous informant.
That said, the other accusations on the site are better supported and more damning. They include 21K miles of travel claimed by Boebert against her campaign, which was coincidentally the amount of a tax lien against her restaurant. Her husband Jayson also supposedly makes $450+K/year from Terra Energy Partners, but Terra denies he works for them. Jayson, who was arrested for exposing his penis in public, worked as a roughneck and well site supervisor, and now helps manage their restaurant that has health code violations and had $20K in unpaid taxes, doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would be paid $450K for his insights. Where did that cash come from?
Judging from the biographies of its founders, American Muckrakers is a Republican PAC. They’re the group responsible for the video of Madison Cawthorn being groped by another man, which is in part being credited for Cawthorn’s primary loss. I’d call them the flip side of the Lincoln Project. Consultants like the Lincoln Project are somewhat respectable, creating attack ads that are out in the open and run for most of the campaign. Muckraker-type consultants are down in the dirt — they’re the ones who send out targeted racist mailers or launch robocalls near the end of the campaign.
I’m sure lots of Republican consultants are full service, providing Lincoln and Muckraker attacks. So, my attitude towards the Lincoln Project is to hate the sinner but love the sin. I do enjoy some of their videos. But I sure as hell won’t give them money or pretend they’re not bottom feeders.
Muckraker-type attacks are an interesting window into what they think is the mindset of Republican voters. With Cawthorn, they chose to portray him as gay. With Boebert, they chose to paint her as a “slut.” These are the tropes that Republicans think have traction with the base, and they probably do. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being gay, doing sex work, or having abortions. The issue, obviously, is the hypocrisy of being gay while espousing hatred for gays, wanting to keep sex work criminalized after having been a sex worker, and wanting to deny abortions to women after having a couple yourself. The Muckrakers would claim that it’s the hypocrisy they’re attacking, but the reality is that they’re attacking the thing itself.
Anyway, I’m not going to give the Muckrackers the credit they’re claiming for the fall of Cawthorn. He was clearly in the sights of House leadership after making claims about coke-fueled orgies on Capitol Hill. DC Republican closet cases can’t have their extracurriculars discussed in public. Intra-party criticism, plus the fact that he’s a useless, callow numpty, probably contributed just as much to Cawthorn’s fall as that video.
I doubt that the weak sauce “wanton woman” attacks are going to bring down Boebert. CO-3 survived redistricting as relatively red (R+6) Western Slope district, and Boebert has raised $4.3 million already. The good news is that a couple of Democrats have raised good money (one raised $1.7 million as of the last report). As far as I’m concerned, we’re more likely to get a pickup in CO-3 with Boebert as the candidate rather than the bog-standard “sensible Republican” who’s her main primary opposition. She’s a grifter who doesn’t do shit but run her mouth. That should be enough to beat her if she can be beaten.
Repub Venality Open Thread: Ginni Thomas Is An Insurrectionist
JPL
In order to diminish the impact of the truth on a website, all you have to do is plant one bogus story.
Jerzy Russian
That is an awesome sentence. I also love “hate the sinner but love the sin.” I am all for them eating their own. The best thing I can do is to offer them ketchup, BBQ sauce, spices, or similar items as needed.
mistermix
@JPL: Are you saying that the ratfuckers ratfucked themselves? Or is it some kind of 11th-dimensional ratfucking?
@Jerzy Russian: Thanks – but I can’t take credit for “hate the sinner but love the sin” — it’s from an Aimee Mann song and I’ve been waiting years to use it someplace.
Ken
I assume that’s million, though perhaps CO-3 is the sort of district where a Democrat raising enough to buy a Big Gulp would be viewed as a wild success?
mistermix
@Ken: Ha, thanks, fixed. Note that Boebert’s main primary challenger raised a little under $90K, which is the political equivalent of a Big Gulp — another reason to think she’ll win the primary.
trollhattan
“Sounds like my kinda gal, I’m votin’ for her.” seems SOP for Republican voters who learn something yet more outrageous about their already outrageous crush. IOW I don’t see something like this moving the needle. We already know what and who she is.
trollhattan
@mistermix: Now Aimee Mann, there’s somebody I’d vote for.
germy shoemangler
this person has the amusing theory that Dick Cheney is behind the purge:
germy shoemangler
Miss Bianca
@Ken:
While I was still living on the Western Slope we had a Democratic representative, John Salazar (brother of Ken).
That changed in 2010, when we got Scott Tipton.
I wouldn’t call it impossible for a Democrat to take CD-3 again. I do think it’s a stretch to imagine that we’d get a Republican primary upset with a “sane” Republican ousting Boebert.
germy shoemangler
“Satan” being Dick Cheney:
Dorothy A. Winsor
@germy shoemangler: Let’s recall this guy will shoot you in the face and then make you apologize
JPL
@mistermix: Someone did, but it was up to them to verify before printing the information. They failed.
germy shoemangler
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Exactly. He doesn’t play.
Kristine
Does Darth Cheney have a heartbeat now, or does he still run silent?
germy shoemangler
@mistermix:
$90k? That won’t even pay for transportation!
ian
@Ken:
CO-3 is mostly Western slope, but does include Aspen and some other wealthy tourist areas, as well as Pueblo. I wouldn’t be surprised if some wealthy individuals are willing to throw some money at a challenger to Boebert to get better representation.
Betty Cracker
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Yep. That’s what the kids call a “flex” for sure. Is the Dark Lord still up for snatching souls these days? I have no idea, but if he’s taking those creepy MAGA fuckers out, I wish him good health for the duration of that enterprise.
germy shoemangler
@Kristine:
He got some young guy’s heart. Pumping smoothly now for him.
When he was asked if he was curious about who the donor was, his reply was something like “No, why should I be?”
West of the Rockies
Sounds to me like a Project Veritas made by and aimed at Republicans. A remarkable self-own, in that Republican voters no longer seem to prefer old-school conservative politicians. Nope. They want ’em dumb and loud. So this effort will be wildly entertaining, but it likely won’t return the party to its hoary, glory days of Reagan.
Bruce K in ATH-GR
@West of the Rockies: In other words, the rot’s too deep. Too late to amputate the Trumpists to save the GOP.
Maybe not too late to amputate the GOP to save the USA.
Kent
I’m of mixed view about this sort of thing. Not the scandal mongering which I fund amusing. But the idea of whether or not I, as a Democrat, should cheer replacing Boebert with a more sane Republican.
She is just one vote either way. I prefer to see the full crazy and insanity that is the GOP out there on full display for the American public to see rather than buried behind media-managed empty suits who are in thrall to the Koch’s and other conservative dark money anti-democratic interests.
So yes, flip that seat if possible. If not, let her be the public voice of the GOP. She is their monster. Let them deal with her on a daily basis.
Kristine
@germy shoemangler:
Part of me is fascinated by the concept of him spending his twilight years purging the GOP until I consider that this means the idiots will be replaced by people who just as ruthless but also not stupid.
Rooting for the snake. Conditionally.
SiubhanDuinne
@germy shoemangler:
Am I the only one so old that when I see “Liz and Dick,” my first thought is Taylor and Burton?
TaMara
@Miss Bianca: If I remember right, and I’m too lazy to go look, Boebert’s win wasn’t substantial – so maybe if this just peels off a few more voters in the general they stand a chance of a Dem winning.
Betty Cracker
@Kent: Agreed. I have similar feelings about a possible Trump v DeSantis contest for the 2024 GOP nomination. Would root for Trump in that scenario, as appalling and dangerous as he is.
Sister Golden Bear
Saying the quiet part out loud: “Candace Owens Calls For State To Seize Trans Children.”
Let’s see how long it takes to move from the “fringe” to become part of the official Republican Party platform. Oh wait, Texas is already trying to do just that.
Geminid
@ian: Whichever Democrat gets the nomination to run against Boebeet will not lack for money. Negative partisanship seems to be intensified when it comes to fundraising; people love to support candidates running against notorious Republicans like Boebert.
Ms. Mitsch-Bush(sp?), Boebert’s opponent in 2020, was a decent candidate (stronger candidates might have run if they had known Boebert was going to knock out the incumbent). Mitsch-Bush was a former state rep who raised enough money to win a more favorable district, but she lost by 6 points, the same amount by which Joe Biden lost the CO 3rd.
Betty Cracker
WaPo reports the J6 committee will seek to interview Ginni Thomas. Good!
Kent
@Betty Cracker: Yeah. IDK. The thing about Trump is that he actually didn’t get that much shit done as president. He got a big tax cut bill passed. He threw up a bunch of tariffs. But in terms of permanent legacy most of the rest of his nonsense was easily reversed. A lot of agencies were actually rudderless during his regime. With various rotating acting directors and such. The most scary part was the foreign policy, undermining NATO, etc. Which was part and parcel of him being a Russian asset.
The thought of an actually smart GOPer who knows how to run a bureaucracy is quite scary. The damage could be much more immense than Trump.
Jerzy Russian
@germy shoemangler: That recent movie “Vice” with Christian Bale, Amy Adams, et al. had an interesting take on that issue.
Paul in KY
@germy shoemangler: I sure hope they’re as successful!
AliceBlue
@SiubhanDuinne: You’re not alone.
Paul in KY
@germy shoemangler: He probably had the poor donor IDed, then whacked to get his/her heart. He knows….
MisterForkbeard
@Kent: Trump’s permanent legacy is that he legitimized fascism and installed a bunch of fascist judges we have to live with for 40 years.
But his administrative and legislative accomplishments were pretty terrible. And even those usually turned out badly.
Paul in KY
@Kent: I’m thinking it might be easier to beat Bobort than a more reality-based opponent.
mistermix
I found a good before and after redistricting map if you’re into that stuff (I am):
What Redistricting Looks Like In Every State – Colorado | FiveThirtyEight
It looks like Joe Neguse’s district (CO-2) was expanded to the west and got more blue. Boebert’s district remained the same (538 calculates it as R+15 vs R+12). As is typical with most maps, Democrats are packed into urban/suburban districts with crushing party advantage (one district is +55) and Republicans have safe but not quite as crushing advantages.
Also, Boebert is saying that the Muckrakers PAC is a “Democrat PAC”. LOL. Democrats don’t fight that dirty.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: My students this spring couldn’t identify Liz & Dick in a Mad magazine caricature. I had to explain it at great length.
A few years ago, it was Greta Garbo. Next thing you know, I’ll have to explain Tom Hanks or something.
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: I guess I’d have to also. DeathSantis is like The Walking Man in The Stand. He should NEVER be President!!!
mrmoshpotato
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
LMAO! Yup!
NotMax
‘@zhena gogolia
“Justin Bie-who?”
;)
zhena gogolia
@NotMax: Yeah.
mrmoshpotato
@Sister Golden Bear: Deplorable trash all the way down.
Even with is being more about power and control than obsession, it’s still really disgusting how obsessed the GrOPers are with people’s personal lives.
Ruckus
@Kent:
I don’t think it works that way in the other party.
They don’t care that there are a few loud, insane folks in their party.
That does 2 things for them. It gets some of the real crazies to vote, something they might not otherwise do. And it redirects attention from the crap that they all want, to the loudmouth, it’s cover. The difference between the powerbrokers on the right and the loudmouths is in style, not substance.
Roger Moore
I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that American Muckrakers was working for Boebert, and they’re deliberately throwing out a mix of real wrongdoing and over the top BS. The goal is for the obvious BS to be picked apart and give people the impression the whole set of accusations are just as bad. It’s an old dirty trick for immunizing people against real accusations of wrongdoing.
debbie
My local NPR station just ran an hour about groups (NGOs) who are helping women obtain abortions both in-state and out of state. It was horrifying listening to everything they go through and everything they need to navigate to remain safe and provide their service. We have GOT to beat these assholes.
Betty Cracker
@Paul in KY: Yep. He’s made great strides in cementing one-party rule in Florida, and he’d try to do the same in DC.
Roger Moore
@Betty Cracker:
Root for injuries. Gooooo Injuries!
Elizabelle
@Roger Moore: Yep. The Boebert post has the stench of W’s National Guard service, and the kerning, all over it.
Mostly, I am seriously curious about her husband’s income. That smells.
Starfish
@ian: A lot of wealthy tourist areas in Colorado are where rich oil Texans own their second homes.
NotMax
And now the thread upstairs about today’s hearing has gone poof?
Kent
@Ruckus: Yeah, like I said, I don’t really know. I don’t know which is worse, “respectable” Republicans, or insane Republicans. The Republican faithful is going to vote GOP no matter what. The better question is where the broad middle and younger voters are going to come down and they are increasingly diverse.
Who is going to appeal more to say a 25 year old Latina with two kids who is working in a bank or insurance office? They crazy flame-thrower screaming about guns and gays, or the respectable business type talking about jobs and the economy in complete sentences? That is where elections get decided.
Kent
@Starfish: Yes, but they aren’t the ones voting. They do their voting back in Dallas and Houston.
germy shoemangler
The gingham dog went “Bow-wow-wow!”
And the calico cat replied “Mee-ow!”
The air was littered, an hour or so,
With bits of gingham and calico,
While the old Dutch clock in the chimney-place
Up with its hands before its face,
For it always dreaded a family row!
Next morning, where the two had sat
They found no trace of dog or cat;
And some folks think unto this day
That burglars stole that pair away!
But the truth about the cat and pup
Is this: they ate each other up!
Now what do you really think of that!
opiejeanne
@Sister Golden Bear: I read that she was calling for the state to seize the children who were taken to drag shows.
mistermix
@Roger Moore:
Since they went at Cawthorn, too, I think it’s more likely that a bunch of old white Republican men thought that they should lead with what they thought was the nastiest charge, no matter how weakly sourced.
Kevin
It defies logic that someone like that can raise millions. I guess I’m naive to the culture war that is actually happening (or Fox tells their viewers is happening).
West of the Rockies
@SiubhanDuinne:
Who?
//
eclare
@germy shoemangler: Cute poem!
Roger Moore
@mistermix:
I just think the whole thing stinks. If you really want to hurt someone, you don’t cram all your accusations, credible and not, into a single blast. Instead, you release them at a measured pace so each one has a chance to make an impact before the next one. That keeps the accusations in the news for longer and makes it seem worse. Putting everything in a single dump and leading with the one that’s least credible just smacks of trying to taint the more credible ones by association.
lowtechcyclist
@SiubhanDuinne:
Nope.
germy shoemangler
@eclare:
I hope a fight between trump and desantis would end in just bits of gingham and calico, with nothing else left of either man.
evodevo
@eclare: Oldie from the 1890’s – Eugene Field
Citizen_X
If he was a “well site supervisor,” or company man (as they’re called), he could make that kind of cash. The company man runs the whole well site, and always knows the details of how the drilling is going.
But how did he get that position? The usual career route is roughneck-driller-company man. They don’t say he was a driller. Out of all the crew, the driller, who actually runs the drill, has the best overview of the whole job. If a driller is skilled and reliable, then he’s a good choice to be a company man. (Or could just stay a driller; they get paid very nicely too.)
But a guy who exposes himself to high schoolers does not seem like a stable choice. You wouldn’t pick him as someone who doesn’t need experience drilling first.
lee
I visit some of the less savory areas of the internet. There are more pics of Lauren Boebert than those on that site.
I’d put the story about her being an escort at +90%.
Cmorenc
@Betty Cracker:
At least in nc and sc, the sheer number of people flying “Trump 2024” banners suggests you are going to get your wish. A trump v desantis primary fight. While i wouldn’t go around telling republican primary voters “vote for the crook – it’s important” (reference to gov edwards in louisiana), that’s sort of the dynamic you are wishing for, in even more pathological form.
jefft452
@Paul in KY: No he isnt
He is just the next version of Scott Walker of WI
Remember when he strutted on stage with a bunch of HS students wearing masks and ordered them to take them off because he was done with “Covid theater”?
Yeah yeah, performative assholery box checked
But here is the thing – NOT A SINGLE TEEN WEARING A MASK TOOK IT OFF
He cant even dominate teens, sure the FL legislature is terrified of him, but you are talking about a body that was once led by “little marco”
Paul in KY
@jefft452: He is not to be misunderestimated, as we did another years ago…
I sure hope you are right about him.
StringOnAStick
I was born and raised in Boebert’s district and have family (all wingnuts) there and also very close friends (seriously liberal), Aside from the grimly hot summers, the politics are why I never went back and why it was NOT on our retirement list even if housing is cheap (relative to many places).
I will say this though; my dad the hardcore RW wingnut said to my sister after the first of the 1/6 hearings that “tRump is a big creep”, and up until the hearings he would express disappointment in tRump and then defend him when anyone pointed out anything bad about him. He’d still vote for him though if the only choice was any D and tRump, but he’s 90 and addicted to FOX-induced rage so I don’t expect to see any behavior changes from him.
Liminal Owl
@SiubhanDuinne: Nope. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one.
Quaker in a Basement
That’s what passes for “leadership” in today’s GOP.