The Grand Junction Sentinel’s veteran political reporter Charles Ashby updates from the Club 20 2021 Spring Conference–a Western Slope civic organization that struggled for relevance in recent years as the region’s right-wing politics diverged from the mainstream and Club 20 followed suit. On Friday, Club 20 hosted freshman GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert for the discussion she declined during the 2020 campaign along with lots of other candidates on both sides.
Nonetheless this weekend’s conference was an opportunity for Boebert, who has been on a nonstop tear of high-energy bellicosity since taking office just a few days before an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that Boebert cheered on right up to the windows smashing in, to project a more competent image. If there’s any benefit to Boebert appearing at Club 20 it’s to make herself look, well, normal.
But as Club 20 discovered and our readers could have guessed, there’s no normalizing Lauren Boebert:
While she referred to Biden as president on several occasions during her address and a question-and-answer session afterwards, she didn’t respond to a question about whether Biden’s election was legitimate.
She did, however, defend her stance in January in challenging the Electoral College results in Congress that put Biden into office.
“There are certain states that went against their states’ constitutions,” she said. “It was not the states’ legislatures that were determining election laws. You had secretaries of state, attorneys general, rogue judges and many other elected officials and unelected bureaucrats changing election laws.”
With that, whatever Boebert had to say about any other issue, the Bureau of Land Management headquarters in Grand Junction, oil and gas drilling, water policy–forget about it, because the national media will only care that Lauren Boebert just reaffirmed the “Big Lie” that the 2020 elections were somehow not legitimate. Three months after the violence at the U.S. Capitol that marked the effective end of Donald Trump’s deceitful campaign to undo his defeat, Lauren Boebert remains a true believer in the falsehood that sparked it.
If Club 20 wants to be known as a “safe space” for insurrectionists being spurned by even most of mainstream corporate America, that’s their choice–but it’s not going to help them attract mainstream candidates to their events in future election years. A clear statement from Club 20’s leadership that they don’t endorse Boebert’s insurrectionist election fiction is probably in order.
Scorpion and the frog, folks. Boebert simply doesn’t do normal, and attempts to pretend otherwise end badly.
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Grand Junction's two teevee newsrooms reported their cameras weren't allowed in, although their reporters were. Why in hell would Club 20 allow that? John Vanderhoof and Bill Cleary are spinning in their graves. I doubt if Greg Walcher, who succeeded Cleary, would have stood for it, either.
I don't know if Club 20 leadership understands how their approach works against them as an organization. Yes, the ridiculous Boebert speech is 100% Boebert's, not Club 20's. But, she was extremely partisan while Club 20 purports to be nonpartisan. Did they tell her ahead of time the organization is nonpartisan? I don't know. It would be interesting to know if she rejected Club 20 guidance OR just didn't receive any guidance. Senator Bennet appeared earlier by Zoom and talked about issues, NOT extreme partisan garbage like Boebert. And he did not attack Republicans.
They probably expected her to act like an adult. Presumably, now they know better.
Club 19 has fallen in stature and influence. I believe a primary cause has been their movement away from the appearance of non-partisanship and fairness. It seems to me the fortunes of the organization rose and have fallen in direct proportion to that of the Oily Boyz, to whom they became vassals, long ago.
I don’t think they have been non-partisan in their history. I am trying to think of powerful Democrats in the leadership history of the Club. Can’t think of any.
Their embrace of Pew-Pew indicates they are just phoning it in.
It really is just a club, not a serious political institution.
There are a few of us progressives fighting the good fight within the membership halls of C20. But perhaps other organizations focusing on rural issues will overtake them – there are multiples, including a rural initiative within the state Dem Party.
Glad to hear the resistance lives!😀
Wouldn't it be fun if the congressional districts get redrawn creating a district in Northwest Colorado that includes both Garfield County (home to Silt and Rifle) and Boulder county.
I guess, if your definition of "fun" is along the lines of participating in bare-handed alligator rasslin', or watching recordings of Matt Gaetz 24/7.