Tony Dean, the host of outdoor shows from South Dakota, is featured in a new Obama radio spot assuring people that Obama won’t infringe on your gun rights, despite mounting evidence to the contrary. Dean says he’s a lifelong Republican but is voting for Barack Obama this year. Sound a bit odd, does it?

That’s probably because Dean, if registered as a Republican at all, is about as righty as Lincoln Chafee. As Michelle Malkin noted back in August, Dean was considering a run for Congress in ‘03 on the, wait for it, Democratic Party ticket.

This is an interesting claim, given that Dean was mentioned by the Rapid City Journal in 2003 as a “possible Democratic candidate for Congress” who endorsed Democrat Senator Tim Johnson for reelection just a year earlier. Dean’s efforts to draw gun owners to Johnson weren’t enough, and Johnson’s Republican challenger, John Thune, became a U.S. Senator from South Dakota. According to public records, Dean donated money to another anti-gun South Dakota Democrat, Tom Daschle, also in 2003.

For Tony Dean to have “switch[ed] parties to head a Sportsmen for Obama group” he would have to have done so at least two years before Obama was even elected to Senate, and five years prior to he announced his presidential bid. Indeed, it appears the word “lifelong” is as difficult for Dean and the Obama campaign to define as the word “is” is to Bill Clinton.

Dean is quoted by the Dallas News as saying he’s “99 percent sure a President Obama isn’t going to infringe on gun rights.” But seeing as Mr. Dean, who at least one blogger has been dubbed ‘South Dakota’s Al Gore’ because of his fervent belief in human-cause global warming, describes himself as a “moderate on the gun issue” who “opposes the NRA on most gun issues,” his assurances about Obama aren’t likely to be much consolation to pro-gun voters.

Barack Obama using misleading radio ads to lie about his anti-gun record? Shocker.