Rep. Lauren Boebert, who had fled the chaos in Washington, D.C., arrived in the bucolic southwest Colorado, to a new kind of turmoil — the impact of her embarrassing moment, when she was recorded vaping and groping a date at a musical performance of “Beetlejuice.”

The scandal put a wrench in an already difficult reelection campaign. Boebert began to rethink her campaign after winning her last race with just 546 votes. The strategy includes an apology to voters for an incident that even loyal Republicans have been rattled by.

Beverly Cuyler said that many of her supporters were shocked. “And one of those reasons is the gap between what she said about herself as a Christian, and what actually happened.”

Boebert, who was expected to face a rematch against Democrat Adam Frisch in a race which could determine the party that controls Congress, took on the embarrassment at the Lincoln Day Dinner held in Archuleta County.

She said, “I am deeply sorry to each of you. I owe a heartfelt apology.” As murmurs of approval faded into attentive silence.

Boebert’s tone is unusual. Boebert’s unapologetic Trumpian style propelled her to MAGA fame nationwide. Now, she is fighting for survival in the political arena at home.

Boebert is adamant about the challenges ahead. He defended Donald Trump, the former president, when he claimed that fraud had occurred in the 2020 presidential elections and was at the forefront of his Make America Great Again campaign.

She has now offered olive branches to the local newspapers that she had once criticized as being biased. She will use the so-called ballot harvesting tactic that she has decried as a sly Democratic tactic. Her supporters will be able to attend boot camps in order to learn her talking points. These have shifted away from national issues to local ones, a strategy that is endorsed by the State GOP.

Dave Williams, Colorado Republican Party chairman, said that Williams’ mistake in 2022 was to not be as focused on the district. She is now making changes so that she does not repeat this mistake.

Boebert raised $2.4 million, while Frisch raised $7.7 millions. He is asking voters to “stop the circus”, a slogan that was used in the 2022 elections.

Boebert, in an interview in a large hall in southwest Colorado just before the Lincoln Day Dinner, said that “Democrats definitely smell blood in water.”

Boebert says she has always been focused on district-specific issues during previous campaigns. However, this time they are pushing a more aggressive message on the ground – emphasizing legislation that she helped push through Congress and that directly affects southwest Colorado.

Drew Sexton, her new campaign manager said, “When you have the closest race for Congress in the country, you’ll know that it is a big deal.” There was a need for more staff, after the last campaign, and a desire to take a different approach.

It’s all about balancing. Boebert has cultivated a national profile as larger-than-Colorado, a far-right agitator who ascends to the stage of conservative conferences to geysers of sparks. She has blurred the lines between religious revival and political rallies in speeches all over the country.

She also works as a policymaker. In this role, she focuses on the issues that are important to her constituency: forest management and water rights. Both roles are important to many supporters.

The vastness of her district includes ranches that have been in her family for generations. It also has coal mining hamlets nestled in the Rocky Mountains and residents who are averse to both big government and God.

Many voters feel that their way of living is being ignored and denigrated. Boebert’s fervent defense of conservative, Christian, agrarian values explains how she became a member of Congress.

Cody Perkins (31), who arrived at Lincoln Day Dinner in an American Flag suit, said: “Our voices are drowned by larger cities.” “I like that she isn’t afraid to speak out. “We need a voice.”

Perkins was also horrified when Boebert’s videotape from the Denver theater surfaced.

Perkins stated that Boebert’s apology was “definitely necessary.”

He said, “I hope that we can move on from this.”

Boebert’s provocations can be demoralizing for other Republicans.

It should be much easier to get a Republican into the district. Dusty Mars, 44 who has voted for Boebert before but isn’t certain what he will do in the primaries, said that we shouldn’t have to fight tooth and nail to get votes.

Mars said he would vote for the Republican nominee in the general elections, but hoped for a candidate “that represents our values in a manner that does not offend other people.”

Dennis Anderson, the publisher of several newspapers in the District, stated that Boebert seems to be returning to 2019 as a scrappy and electrifying candidate who fights for the people. Boebert’s campaigning in this district is “more empathetic than her disruptive national image”.

He said, “Lately it feels like she has been brought back to earth just a bit.”

Boebert attacked Nancy Pelosi at events and debates during the last election. She was a foil to a bloated government and a corrupt system, as well as Democratic demagoguery.

Seth Masket of the Center on American Politics, Colorado, said that she was “very focused on being a soldier for Donald Trump and being a thorn on the side of the Biden administration.”

Masket said that Boebert’s new campaign strategy, which is not too far from Pelosi’s “owning the land” election slogan, was a smart pivot. Masket expects Boebert will do better at the election in 2024. He believes Trump’s campaign for president will attract more Republicans to vote.

Boebert also questions Boebert’s ability to be a legislator after Pelosi was dethroned. Boebert claimed that this gave her more time to work on laws that would help her constituents.

In the trainings, where her supporters are taught about her message, the focus has shifted to the local policies and legislative changes Boebert worked on during the first Speakership Battle — leaving out efforts to impeach Joe Biden.

Boebert demanded that a bill be read 72 hours before it was voted on during McCarthy’s campaign to become speaker. Attendees at the Lincoln Day Dinner, Colorado, applauded this demand.

Boebert still has to win back moderate conservatives and unaffiliated voters who switched to Frisch in the last election.

Boebert is determined to send a message that “I can work with my colleagues”