Ken Buck is not in Denver. He's in denial.(Updated)

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Now that Ken Buck knows that Sarah Palin is not likely to endorse his primary opponent Jane Norton -- despite the swirl of rumors all week long that she would -- his campaign is desperately trying to back away from his "rude" remark:

Buck asserts: “Let me be clear. I did not say that Gov. Palin was ‘rude.’ In fact, I have tremendous respect for her, and have been looking forward to hearing her speak at Saturday’s event.”

But Denver Post opinion writer Chuck Plunkett transcribed the relevant segment of the interview:

Buck was asked if he would “prefer that Palin not come in and steal media – not just for you, but for the rest of Republicans and the grassroots for Colorado?”

His answer: “You know, it’s rude. It is frankly rude. People have worked for months to get out the caucus vote and to work towards this assembly and it’s unfortunate that if in fact that’s true, that someone would try to steal that show – Sarah Palin can come any day of the week after that and they can have their day in the sun. But for all those folks that have worked so hard to be heard and participate in the caucus process I think that it’s only fair that it’s their day.”

Not true, says Plunkett:

Interviews with event planners show the Palin event in Denver was set up months before Norton decided to skip the GOP Assembly – and long before he campaign started referring to it as a “backroom.”

The transcription leaves no doubt that Buck expressed his opinion that Gov. Palin should not appear in Denver on May 22. Buck, his campaign and his supporters were upset over Sarah Palin's scheduled appearance in Denver on Buck's big day at the state GOP assembly, even though the two events do not overlap. Whether the governor would endorse Norton or not seemed like a secondary consideration for them, though they would later try to use it for cover.

Plunkett concludes:

"...it was arguably poor politics for Buck to answer the question with a criticism of Palin. There’s just nothing to be gained by using the word 'rude' in this case."

Buck screwed up by dissing Gov. Palin, and he knows it. Rather than admit he was wrong and apologize, now he's trying to say that he didn't say what he said. Good luck with that.

Update: Acording to Denver TV station KUSA, a crowd of 6,000 is expected to turn out tonight at the University of Denver's Magness Arena for Salem Media's event featuring Gov. Palin.

- JP