Kevin Madden’s backtracking

I noted that Kevin Madden’s most recent denial is a clear non-denial. Or rather it is not responsive in some way. Let’s drill down on his statements to see just how much the Romney campaign has backtracked in the last couple of days:

He started with a "[flat]" denial of being involved "at all," to the Politico:

"That’s preposterous," shot back Romney spokesman Kevin Madden. Asked if they were involved at all, Madden flatly said "no."

This then became a sort of free floating blanket "[rejection]" of various  "insinuation{s}" that they would "support" the calls, to the Salt Lake Tribune:

"Emphatically, I reject any insinuation that we would support phone calls attacking our own campaign," said Romney campaign spokesman Kevin Madden. "That’s underscored by the fact that we asked the New Hampshire attorney general to investigate the calls. As the campaign being targeted, we have the most important interest in finding out who is responsible."

Then that the calls were "tied" to the campaign to HuffPo:

Asked about these reports, Kevin Madden Romney’s spokesperson responded: "Citizens have a right to donate, but we would reject outright any insinuation that these [calls] are tied to this campaign."

Then finally last night with NRO, that the campaign would be "involved,"

"I would reject outright any insinuation that our campaign would be involved with making calls against our own candidate," Romney spokesman told NRO Sunday night in response to the connections."

You can smell the rubber of the backtracking.