New Lauren Boebert challenger is trying to leverage getting 'dunked on' online into political clout: report

On Friday, The Washington Post took a deep dive into the campaign of Alex Walker — an upstart gay candidate running against Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) as a Democrat — and the unusual, social media-centric strategy he is trying to build his political profile.

"Alex Walker, a 31-year-old man from Colorado, announced his bid to unseat Rep. Lauren Boebert last month with a YouTube video featuring feces raining from the sky and shooting out of books," reported Taylor Lorenz and Dave Weigel. "A man wearing a bright red 'Q' tank top vomits all over a family’s picnic. An actress playing Boebert sprays a slimy substance all over a congressional office. 'We are real Coloradans. We deserve a living wage, small government that actually works and freedom of choice,' Walker says. 'Instead, we have bulls---.'"

"Walker, a Democrat, is hoping that any attention he draws, whether people celebrate his message or dunk on him, will help transform him into an Internet phenomenon and defeat a Republican firebrand," said the report. "He’s following a now tried-and-true playbook of whipping up views on the Internet, then leveraging that attention to build a national audience. Sometimes it can provide a powerful nationwide donor base, but increasingly candidates are recognizing that while an online following is a currency worth amassing, it can be unwieldy."

Walker is one of several Democrats running for the position, including state Rep. Donald Valdez and social worker Sol Sandoval.

"This week, Walker went viral again for a TikTok where he tells progressive voters to 'stop complaining' and vote for him," said the report. "After Twitter and TikTok users piled on, calling it condescending, he lamented that he was being 'canceled by Bernie bros.' His avatar features him giving the middle finger to the camera."

Boebert, who ran for Congress after running a restaurant where the servers open carry guns, has consistently drawn outrage for her behavior, including an incident in which she called Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) a terrorist. She also faces a Republican primary challenger in state Sen. Don Coram, who has slammed her for "embarrassing juvenile antics."

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