In today’s Wall Street Journal:

Wearing blue jeans, a checked shirt and ostrich-skin cowboy boots, [Scott] Tipton made a point of telling voters at a recent campaign stop here of his deep local roots. Then he pivoted to his campaign’s central theme: tying [John] Salazar to the unpopular Democratic leadership in Washington, D.C. Mr. Tipton repeatedly points out that Mr. Salazar has voted with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about 97% of the time.

Mr. Salazar emphasizes that he broke with his party on several key issues, opposing the cap-and-trade energy bill and the bank bailout and calling for a year-long extension of the Bush tax cuts for all income groups. He has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association and rated a centrist by the National Journal.

“I’ve never voted with Nancy Pelosi,” Mr. Salazar says, adding that “every vote I’ve taken” has been with and for his constituents.

Boy, there’s a persuasive denial. Never! Never, ever, ever!