July 02, 2014 12:12 PM UTC

Beauprez in complete denial of Both-Ways-Bob accusation

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• by: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols. This is baffling. Beauprez isn't just saying that he has never wavered on issues — he's saying that nobody has ever even accused him of wavering on issues.)

Last month, The Denver Post ran a strange quote from GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez:

"I've never been accused of switching positions on a vote or an issue. But that happens in politics."

I wondered about the wisdom of running such a quote, given that it was almost certainly a slip of the tongue by Beauprez, who's been called Both Ways Bob countless times by Democrats and Republicans alike.

But then last week, on KOA's Mike Rosen show, Beauprez repeated essentially the same thing. Rosen asked Beauprez how he'd respond to the Both-Ways-Bob moniker, and here's how he replied:

Beauprez: Well, you know, Mike, one thing that the record is actually pretty clear about is that I've never been called unprincipled, or wavering, or with a flimsy spine. Quite the opposite. I think most people understand that I know who I am.

Listen to Beauprez deny Both Ways Bob accusation–on KOA radio 06-26-2014

You have to be thick-skinned to survive in politics but to completely deny the existence of a common accusation against you is so weird that it merits further investigation by reporters.

Here's a transcript of the exchange between Rosen and Beauprez:

Rosen: In an earlier race…during the campaign for the Republican nomination, Marc Holtzman, or his campaign geniuses had crafted the slogan 'Both Ways Bob" and in so doing, they were trying to paint you as somebody who had flip flopped on some issues. I hate that kind of tactic in any kind of Republican primary because it can come back to haunt us. Well, guess what? Some progressive sites right now, and progressive is the fashionable word for radically left wing, even to the left of liberals, are using Both Ways Bob to attack you in this campaign against Gov. Hickenlooper. How are you going to answer that?

Beauprez: Well, Mike, one thing that the record is pretty clear about is that I've never been called unprincipled, or wavering, or with a flimsy spine. Quite the opposite. I think most people understand that I know who I am.

Listen to Beauprez deny Both Ways Bob accusation–on KOA radio 06-26-2014