Her rallies have drawn criticism because participants don\u2019t wear masks, but Boebert said they aren\u2019t required outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t feel people\u2019s pain through a computer screen,\u201d she said, referring to opponent Diane Mitsch Bush\u2019s online forums.<\/p>\n
Her campaign website does not outline specific policy plans for her potential term in the U.S. House, and she touts her lack of political experience as a positive.<\/p>\n
However, her messages of reducing the government\u2019s role in public systems like health care, education and land use resonate with rural voters who believe the government has failed or ignored them.<\/p>\n
Mitsch Bush, a Democrat, has run a campaign that lacks the flashy visuals and sound bites that propelled Boebert past Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez and into the general election.<\/p>\n
Mitsch Bush has held her events online in an effort, she says, to keep people safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
As a former state legislator and Routt County commissioner, Mitsch Bush pitches herself as a pragmatist who would stand up to her own party to represent her district\u2019s interests in Washington, D.C. Her website outlines her plan to press issues under the COVID-19 pandemic, including health care, jobs and fair elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is not flashy, but she is a hard worker,\u201d Nancy Spillane of Steamboat Springs said in a phone interview. Mitsch Bush helped Routt County through the Great Recession and has worked with ranchers, miners and school districts, Spillane said.<\/p>\n
Both campaigns have centered on highlighting their differences. When asked whether she and Mitsch Bush had anything in common, Boebert replied bluntly: \u201cWe\u2019re both women.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Mitsch Bush and Boebert both tell stories of their financial insecurity and hardship as children.<\/p>\n
Mitsch Bush says on her website she \u201cexperienced firsthand how a stable, good paying job with benefits can provide dignity, security and stability for working families\u201d when her single mother joined a public employees union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.<\/p>\n
Boebert has said her experience on a food stamp program was \u201chumiliating\u201d and a \u201ccycle of poverty\u201d that held her family back from becoming successful.<\/p>\n In online ads and rally speeches, Boebert shares how her first job at a McDonald\u2019s at age 15 taught her the power that comes with financial self-sufficiency instead of relying on the government for help.<\/p>\n \u201cI learned conservative values \u2013 I take care of myself, not you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Farms and ranches in Southwest Colorado provide beef, hay and pinto beans for other parts of the nation. But some voters feel leaders from left-leaning places like Denver belittle them and their beliefs.<\/p>\n \u201cFederal policies affect the 3rd Congressional District differently,\u201d Dick Wadhams, a Republican political consultant from Colorado, said in a phone interview. \u201cThe BLM (Bureau of Land Management) owns a large part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n When BLM land is protected for conservation purposes, voters in the 3rd Congressional District think \u201cpeople want to take away their livelihood, that they don\u2019t count,\u201d Wadhams said.<\/p>\n For Boebert, protecting public land from oil and gas extraction means fewer jobs.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to keep and protect lands for multiuse,\u201d Boebert said. The over-regulation in place is \u201cdriving away companies that are unable to comply,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The BLM is already tasked with sustaining multiple uses on public lands. And the regulations implemented \u201ccome from the companies themselves,\u201d said Cody Perry, a conservation consultant and co-founder of Rig To Flip, an environmental film company based in Steamboat Springs.<\/p>\n He documents water in the West and shares stories of how recreation boosts local economies and helps preserve Colorado\u2019s water sources and natural beauty.<\/p>\n Oil and gas companies leave for market or business reasons, not regulations, Perry said.<\/p>\n \u201cI want someone to look at public lands and ask how they\u2019re going to be part of our economy for the long term,\u201d Perry said.<\/p>\n Mitsch Bush proposes training coal, gas and oil workers for new manufacturing, renewable energy and broadband infrastructure jobs that also improve their communities.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the pandemic, we saw our supply chain wasn\u2019t working,\u201d Mitsch Bush said in a phone interview with the Herald<\/em>. \u201cWe rely too much on foreign suppliers for medical supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n She wants to bring those manufacturing jobs to places like Colorado\u2019s Western Slope.<\/p>\n Rebuilding the economy also means protecting public lands for recreational use, Mitsch Bush said.<\/p>\n During the COVID-19 shutdown of indoor spaces, where the virus is more likely to spread, Colorado has seen \u201cmuch more use of our public lands,\u201d Mitsch Bush said.<\/p>\n The outdoor recreation economy is vital to Southwest Colorado, and if public lands are lost to oil and gas leases or other destructive uses, those recreation jobs are lost as well, she said.<\/p>\n Beyond their policy stances, Mitsch Bush said the biggest difference between her and Boebert is her ability to listen to constituents.<\/p>\n \u201cThe job is to listen to constituents, not party leaders,\u201d Mitsch Bush said. \u201cI\u2019ve listened to them, and let them know what I\u2019m thinking, but it\u2019s not a rigid ideology.\u201d<\/p>\n Without experience or a set of policy plans informed by feedback from constituents, Boebert is more likely to back policies from party leaders on a national level instead of what would be beneficial for the 3rd Congressional District, Mitsch Bush said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no doubt she is inspired by President Donald Trump and associates with him on every issue,\u201d Wadhams said.<\/p>\n Boebert\u2019s campaign pushed messaging on the need to ensure health care for those with preexisting conditions, or people who had health conditions such as asthma before the start of their new coverage, about the same time Trump signed an executive order that purports<\/a> to lock in coverage regardless of anyone\u2019s health history.<\/p>\n