Two more Democrats refused to endorse Democrat President Barack Obama this week. Ron Barber, who is running against Jesse Kelly in Arizona, would not answer Kelly when asked if he would support Obama in November.
Democrat Ronald Barber runs from protesters. (Gila Courier)
The Politico reported:
National Democrats are upbeat about former North Dakota Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp’s prospects as a Senate candidate. And on the House level, Dems are optimistic that former Gabrielle Giffords aide Ron Barber will keep Giffords’s open seat in Democratic hands.
And both candidates are keeping their distance these days from President Obama.
Here’s what Heitkamp had to say about Obama this week:
Heidi Heitkamp, a former North Dakota attorney general seeking to replace the retiring Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), told the AP that Obama has “failed in the one test America had for him, which was to unite the country.”
“I think he needed to be more hands-on… I don’t think he’s done enough to think broadly and come up with solutions that would engage both sides in a reasonable dialogue,” she added.
And here’s how Barber handled the top-of-the-ticket question in a candidate debate:
When it was his turn to ask his rival a question, [Republican Jesse] Kelly asked Barber to declare who he’ll vote for in November for president, and Barber — although a Democrat with an incumbent president of his party — refused, saying he’s focused on his own campaign.
Kelly used that demurral as an opportunity to say Barber won’t even admit that he supports Obama and “Obamacare,” a law that Kelly described as terrible.
“My biggest fear is Mr. Obama’s job-killing policies,” Kelly said.
Barber later retorted that his biggest fear is Kelly’s “extreme policies.”
UPDATE: Here’s Ron Barber dodging the question who he will vote for in November.