WaPo Notices Jared Polis, “A Pro-Pot, Video Game Playing Congressman”

Yesterday’s Washington Post included a
long, juicy profile of Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.)
. It
opens with a set piece of the “pro-pot, video game playng
congressman” standing around a marijuana dispensary in his home
state, chatting knowledgeably about the product but refusing to
have his picture taken because “that could go viral.”

This is something new for Polis, the 39-year-old self-made
millionaire member of Congress: He is starting to care what people
think about him. The same guy mocked
by GQ for his sartorial choices
—known as Congress’s chief
video-game enthusiast, the first member to accept bitcoin donations
on the day it became legal, and a top spokesman for legalizing
marijuana—now wants to be taken seriously by the establishment.
That doesn’t mean he’s about to start going along to get along. It
just means he’s looking for a change in style.

reason coverReason readers, of course,
were already
well aware of the Colorado phenom with the libertarian touch
,
since we had a big juicy profile of Polis several weeks ago in our
last print issue:

Close your eyes and think of a stereotypical gamer. Is he a
bowtie-wearing gay father of one with a penchant for beekeeping who
represents Colorado’s 2nd District in the House of Representatives?
Probably not. But maybe he should be.

The Post also covers Polis’ stance on fracking:

Yes, being gay and being in favor of marijuana legalization have
changed from liabilities to assets, but on the issue of fracking,
Democrats remain divided. Polis has spent hundreds of thousands of
his own dollars on a series of ballot initiatives in Colorado that
would limit places where fracking could occur, and the issue has
seriously fractured Democrats in the state.

When Reason covered
his stance on fracking
 a couple of weeks ago, Polis

turned up in our comments section
to chat with our readers
about the nuances of the issue in libertarian terms and offer some
hard evidence for his claims:

The argument comes down to individual rights…. It’s a complex
one and the libertarian perspective is not immediately clear. Can
someone else engage in an activity next to your house which causes
you economic damage and reduces the value of your home without
compensating you? A recent study found that fracking nearby
resulted in 4-15% decrease in home value:
http://ift.tt/1k1T54f

Currently there is nothing someone can do to prevent fracking
nearby…. I think the liberarian perspective would allow for
covenants in HOAs or even through local government to settle
property disputes like this between neighbors, provide a mechanism
for accounting for externalities. Currently any attempt at
addressing this is pre-empted by the state. Here are some more
thoughts on the topic:
http://ift.tt/1k1T54j

Fundamentally I believe in a regulatory marketplace…. people
who want to live in areas that allow fracking, marijuana, gambling,
and prostitution should be able to and people who want to live in
areas that don’t should also be able to.

Polis’ presence in our comments section certainly bolsters the
Post’s take on his M.O.:

Polis likes to think of himself as a translator between groups.
On my trip with him, he sat down with parents of gifted students
where people said things like, “How do you ID a GT with ESL or
ADD?” then spoke to an older group of Democratic Women of Boulder
County voters about what “pay-fors” to use for certain legislation,
then spoke about how both Congress and new companies thrive when
there are more “disruptive” forces at play at a panel about
start-ups.

“What I want to do is be able to appeal to the Reddit generation
while also making sure other parts of the party are at the table,”
he said munching on a Bobo’s Oat bar and drinking organic iced tea.
“Internet freedom, marijuana and other issues. It doesn’t mean
every Democrat has to change their mind, but we need to have a way
to talk about these things without alienating the next
generation.”

The
whole Post profile is worth a read
. (Even if you
read
Reason‘s first
.)

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