# Please explain Lauren Boebert **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 15, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163 "2023-09-15T14:41:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/441 "2024-06-27T14:50:10Z")
There were other fringe candidate. The two Liberals were boring regular people. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/442 "2024-06-27T15:27:27Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The results were > > Conservative: 38.6% > Liberal 1: 27.4% > Liberal 2: 25.2% > > He would have lost with just one opponent. He would have lost with instant runoff voting. Or (likely) approval voting. Or any other voting system other than plurality voting, which performs terribly in ballots where the number of candidates is greater than 2. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/443 "2024-06-27T15:29:05Z")
38.6% in a three-way race also isn’t nearly as strong as 43.6% in a six-way race. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/444 "2024-06-27T15:42:20Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > He would have lost with instant runoff voting. Or (likely) approval voting. Or any other voting system other than plurality voting, which performs terribly in ballots where the number of candidates is greater than 2. We know. There are efforts to change things in the future. > [@Chronos](#): > > 38.6% in a three-way race also isn’t nearly as strong as 43.6% in a six-way race. Yes. That was literally my exact point. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/445 "2024-06-27T15:53:01Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > The Republican party is dead and MAGA has emerged from the ashes. Rather than an elephant, the Party of MAGA clearly needs to be represented by a phoenix wearing a red baseball cap. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/446 "2024-06-27T15:54:09Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > There were other fringe candidate. Hey, I talked to Boat Rat Matt once. He’s not a fringe candidate. He’s whatever exists out beyond the fringe. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/447 "2024-06-27T16:01:14Z")
The main claim I’ve seen is that she won primarily due to name recognition. Voters have heard of her. I think that’s the context where people say a single consensus candidate could have won, as a consensus would also imply name recognition. So, sure, there’d be some people who voted for other candidates who would switch to her. But she could have lost voters who just chose her because they’d heard of her. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/448 "2024-06-27T16:11:18Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Rather than an elephant, the Party of MAGA clearly needs to be represented by a phoenix wearing a red baseball cap. I was thinking rat, like that expression about a shithouse rat. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/449 "2024-06-27T16:13:40Z")
It’s easy to dream up a high-profile, well-funded “consensus candidate” who could have taken on Boebert. But that’s getting close to saying “Boebert would have lost if only she faced an opponent who got more votes than her.” The fact is there was no such candidate in the offing, and there’s no reason to think Boebert would have lost if only it was a smaller field. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/450 "2024-06-27T16:17:38Z")
And it’s hard to imagine a candidate with more, or even anywhere near as much, name recognition as Boebert. I mean, most of us here are clear across the country, and we all recognize her name. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/451 "2024-06-27T18:00:00Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > The fact is there was no such candidate in the offing, and there’s no reason to think Boebert would have lost if only it was a smaller field. The fact that she got more than 40% of the vote tells me you’re likely correct. I should have guessed this would have happened when several of the candidates raised their hands when asked how many of them had been arrested and the crowd thought it was amusing. The law & order party indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/452 "2024-06-27T18:07:47Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I should have guessed this would have happened when several of the candidates raised their hands when asked how many of them had been arrested and the crowd thought it was amusing. In all sincerity, I don’t have a problem with her being elected because it sure sounds like she can represent her constituents. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/453 "2024-06-27T18:10:53Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > In all sincerity, I don’t have a problem with her being elected because it sure sounds like she can represent her constituents. I don’t have a problem in the sense that this is how the democratic process works. I have a problem with the idea that any body of constituents in the United States would choose her. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/454 "2024-06-27T18:18:21Z")
Forty-plus years ago my then college-aged brother said > What America needs is better Americans. He was right then and it hasn’t happened. In fact it’s gotten a lot worse. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/455 "2024-06-27T18:37:01Z")
Amen to @LSLGuy 's brother. We should pick our elected officials with the same care we’d use in choosing a beloved family member’s neurosurgeon, putting a premium on intelligence, experience, education, honesty, integrity, wisdom, prudence, judiciousness, maturity, and temperament. We should look for somebody _better_ than us, not somebody “non-threatening” and who seems or talks “just like us.” We should work hard to tamp down our own intellectual insecurities and realize what it takes to do these jobs. We should stop making it so easy for politicians to demagogue and manipulate us. They’re not auditioning to be guests on some Jerry Springer-esque TV show. This is the really real world, and This. Shit. Actually. Matters. We can (maybe), and we should (definitely), do better. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/456 "2024-06-27T19:29:21Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I have a problem with the idea that any body of constituents in the United States would choose her. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > What America needs is better Americans. Yeah, what I was sort of getting at is that it’s the people she represents that I have a problem with. Oh well, it takes all kinds I guess. 😫 ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/457 "2024-06-27T19:42:18Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Surprising that 7.1% held their noses and voted for the candidate who finished last! I’m assuming this comment is based on the last place finisher’s name? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/458 "2024-06-27T20:13:05Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > They’re not auditioning to be guests on some Jerry Springer-esque TV show. In context, I agree with your post. But out of context, I disagree. Some of them — not just Boebert — did seem to be auditioning for reality TV: [I’ve been arrested twice and every time it was for fighting because somebody needed a little attitude adjustment,” said Holtorf. “I told my Dad both times that I was winning until the cops showed up.”](https://www.cpr.org/2024/01/26/congressional-district-four-gop-debate-boebert-lynch-sonnenberg-harvey-holtorf-flora-yu-leisy-phelan/) ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/459 "2024-06-27T21:40:14Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > We should look for somebody _better_ than us, not somebody “non-threatening” and who seems or talks “just like us.” Very true, but a large segment of the population (more on the right than the left IMHO though) HATES thinking anyone is _better_ than they are: it’s a part of the problem. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > We should work hard to tamp down our own intellectual insecurities and realize what it takes to do these jobs. We should stop making it so easy for politicians to demagogue and manipulate us. Also agree, but, again, a large segment of the population (and again, IMHO, a much larger percentage on the right) seem to think government seems to only protect those “other” people, and not them, ignoring a huge amount of built-in entitlement. And the genius (if that’s what it is) of Trump and his ilk is to prey upon that. > [@DavidNRockies](#): > > They’re not auditioning to be guests on some Jerry Springer-esque TV show. This is the really real world, and This. Shit. Actually. Matters. And this is where we get to causes, because news, _especially_ Fox news, has been running little but Springer-esque moments for _years_. Outrage sells, be it clicks or commercials, and boring, responsible news doesn’t. Many people (and I keep reminding myself and others how much the population of the SDMB are major _outliers_) aren’t ever going to look past the soundbites and stands on their personal hot-button issues. And that’s leaving out a part of the problem, not directly tied to the thread, but a real one. For decades, the trope about the politician who promises a lot but does little has been true. Long before MAGA, we were conditioned to never believe a politician, because due to reasons ( whether it be lack of consensus, difficulties in implementation, or out-and-out corruption ) they almost never delivered. So it’s been decades at least, more realistically much longer, since we felt their was any true good faith efforts by our elected class. And each time the SCOTUS has stripped away protection from corruption, from big money influencing our elections, it’s _gotten worse_. Where we are now is likely where we’ve been heading a long time, just that the reactionaries got really, really scared when, say Obama was elected and managed to push through some actual damn reforms. And so they decided that they’d better pull out the stops before the average American realized they were being boiled like a frog in the pot. TO BE CLEAR - there is corruption in both parties, recent news providing proof of that of course. The degree, and acceptance of the corruption ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163/460 "2024-06-27T22:36:27Z")
Sorry, apparently SDMB saved a partial but not complete draft and posted it after apparently hour-glassing for over an hour 😮‍💨 “TO BE CLEAR - there is corruption in both parties, recent news providing proof of that of course. The degree, and the acceptance of the corruption”, as opposed to belief that such corruption is a perk of the job and otherwise should be embraced because winning is all that matters - is not remotely comparable. (IE RWNJ are happily embracing the evil _smugly_) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-lauren-boebert/990163.md?page=24)