A very thought-provoking Colorado Politics story notes with our national congressional embarrassment (do I really need to say her name? OK, fine: Lauren Boebert) carpetbagging off to CD4, she leaves CD3 as now more likely to elect a Republican than it was before.

According to the Cook Report, the district goes from toss-up (with Boebert) to leaning-Republican (without Boebert). Given the race had been between Boebert and Democrat Adam Frisch, who has raised crazy amounts of money and who was likely to defeat Boebert in the next election, having lost by a whisker to her previously, it makes sense a leaning-GOP district might well elect a “normal” GOPer from among the field that is running out there in CD3. Normal, of course, being a relative term given the degree to which nearly every GOP candidate has bent the knee to former President Donald Trump.

Back to Boebert: while twisting her words in such a way as to make it sound like her move to CD4 was a positive one for her and the GOP, she showed she continues to be largely disconnected from reality. Boebert declared “The Aspen donors, George Soros and Hollywood actors that are trying to buy the seat – well, they can go pound sand.” 

I love that, in that the modern GOP cannot really compete on the issues (the House has passed almost nothing), they look for daemons and devils to attack, in hopes of scaring voters into voting for them, the under-achiever’s club. I do find it interesting she attacks Aspen donors. I’m pretty sure not only are these donors’ residents of her district, but they are also legally registered voters and, you know, Americans.

And I especially love the George Soros attack and the tossing in of Hollywood. The GOPers love their demonization, even as their own front runner for the White House faces more than 90 criminal charges and has already been adjudicated guilty of sexual assault. But as long as he’s not from Hollywood, I guess they think he’s OK. Republican dark money can come pouring in from billionaire hard-right donors, but somehow, that doesn’t count as “outside money.”

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And a quick word about the Cook Report. Many years ago, when I was a young-ish Air Force captain, teaching American government and national security at the AF Academy, I had the opportunity to fly to Washington, D.C. to attend, as an observer, some political meetings and to conduct some research. I found myself at a dinner, and as one does, I introduced myself to the fellow next to me, and he introduced himself as Charles Cook, founder and then-editor in chief of the Cook Report. You notice I cited that Cook Report above, and that is because it is, to this day, the standard by which all political prognosticators are measured. Cook is the gold standard of political reporting. He took my card and kindly had an issue or two of the Report sent to me at the Academy, and they were quite insightful. I thought I might even subscribe, until I noted the very cheapest subscription costs $350 per annum. Oh well. Still, an amazing resource.

Anyway, Boebert is toast in CD4, where there are already a number of hard-right candidates in the race. I’m guessing, after an initial flurry of interest in Boebert, she will settle down and finish middle of the pack in the primary. Not sure how she will blame that on Soros, but she’ll try.

Maybe former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, of Sterling, gets the award for the cleverest snark and sneaky attack on Boebert’s carpetbagging, when he stated: “I look forward to welcoming Lauren to the fourth district and representing her in Congress. I’ve lived, worked, and raised my family here and I’m blessed to have always called Eastern Colorado home.” (Italics mine)

But as noted in the story, the Republicans shouldn’t get too cocky about CD3 just yet. Trump won the district by eight points in 2020, but he won by 15 points back in 2016. And Frisch, with millions in the bank, will be a formidable candidate in his own right, assuming he wins the Dem primary, which I believe he will. Oh, and my old boss (and, I still hope, future president) U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet only lost the district by two points, while Gov. Jared Polis actually won the district by two points. Not exactly a district for the GOP to nap in.

And, thinking more broadly, if CD3 is seen as competitive, the national GOP will be forced to spend money in a district they may have thought they could ignore. Even if Frisch were to lose, the huge amount of money the GOP is likely to need to spend defeating him is money they can’t spend in other competitive races, and those other races might, therefore, tilt Democratic.

So, once again, Colorado is a remarkable place to watch politics. We are likely not the presidential swing state we once were, huzzah, but on the congressional level, things are just starting to get cranked up.

Stay tuned.

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.