Surely, you’ve all heard by now about Ron Barber’s open statement of support for President Obama during Wednesday’s CD8 debate?

Oh, you haven’t? Well, there’s a good reason for that. Ron Barber REFUSED to affirm his support for Obama in public, when asked!

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.

Now THAT’s a ringing endorsement of a sitting US president. (Emphasis above added).

It was such a simple answer. One word: “Obama.” And yet…

Barber quickly clarified. (Meanwhile, we are searching YouTube for Barber’s “hostage” video, a la Newark Mayor Cory Booker. [See below for details])

Unfortunately for Ron Barber and the Democrats, the horse had long since left the barn. And, many noticed.

- The Poltico politics website. (You’ve seen this link already.)
- Chuck Todd of MSNBC: “Folks this AZ 08 House special for Gabby Giffords’ seat is close. Dem nominee won’t say how he’ll vote for POTUS.”

Meanwhile, we Republicans get to sit down, munch on some popcorn and watch the blockbuster movie “Damage Control!”

We get to watch it, again and again and again. (You can, too!)

We get to speculate about what’s in Ron Barber’s “hostage” video. (Is he blinking Morse code distress signals with his eyes? Is his family with Jeff Rogers [Pima County Democratic Party chair] at an “undisclosed location” for, um, “safekeeping?”)

We get to read bloggers speculate about what it all means, like Moe Lane, writer extraordinare at the “Redstate” blog:

anybody who still seriously thinks that the Obama campaign has a shot at winning Arizona should consider that the people who actually have to run in Arizona apparently have a different opinion. If Ron Barber doesn’t dare bring up Barack Obama’s name in a special election in June, what are the odds that people are going to give that name a better reception in November?

Emphasis added—more popcorn! We need something to drink, too? OK—how about a Diet Schadenfreude? Super-sized!

(The backstory on Cory Booker. This past Sunday, on “Meet The Press”, Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, a Democrat, criticized Democratic Party attacks on private capital firms. With lightning speed, Booker issued a YouTube video clarifying his remarks. This led to widespread speculation that the White House and Democratic Party pressured Booker to get back in line with the party’s talking points. Booker’s YouTube video is now derided as being a “hostage video”—i.e., a video made by someone who’s under some form of duress.)

I doubt he does. But the leader of his party in the House of Representatives sure does. She wants to change it, and she sounds serious

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday endorsed a movement announced by other congressional Democrats on Wednesday to ratify an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow Congress to regulate political speech when it is engaged in by corporations as opposed to individuals.

Sure, let’s tinker with the First Amendment so that it suits one political party’s wishes. Now THAT’s the leadership America needs!

Charles Cooke at National Review adds:

Look for further proposals to include a “revised” Second Amendment that doesn’t cover firearms and a revised Sixth Amendment that doesn’t cover public trials.

Why am I writing about this? Do I have any idea that Ron Barber endorses this idea? No. But that’s not why I’m writing this.

Apparently, it’s time to play the “Disavow” game in the CD8 special election. Fine, let’s play!

Does Ron Barber agree with Nancy Pelosi that the First Amendment needs to be repaired?

What’s that old phrase…oh yeah, “silence equals consent.” I haven’t heard Ron Barber disavow Nancy Pelosi, so…

UPDATED: Here’s another question for Ron Barber: If he got the chance, would he vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House? Does Barber think Pelosi should be Speaker of the House again?

Over to you, Tucson mainstream media. (Don’t hold your breath, readers).

The House of Representatives does what the majority party wants it to do. If you want to have clout in the House, you want a Representative who’s from the majority party. That party is, and will be, the GOP. So, if Tucson wants a voice in the House that the leadership will listen to, we need a Republican representative.

(Oh…we’re in luck! There’s a House election coming up…)

By comparison, in the Senate, an individual Senator can sway the course and content of legislation when the vote is close. Even when the vote isn’t only NOT close, it’s against him, one Senator (or a few) can slow down the whole legislative process. (If nothing else, they can filibuster, something it takes sixty votes to stop.) In so doing, they can force the Senate leadership to listen to, and heed, them.

The House of Representatives isn’t the Senate. The majority party runs it, and the Speaker of the House and the Majority Leader and Whip run the majority party. Maverick Congressmen/women—or members of the minority party—get marginalized, unless the Speaker and Majority Leader want them to be players.

What are the chances that the GOP will lose the House in November? Well, let’s see what the experts say.

• According to the Cook Political Report, the 2010 redistricting fortified 10 to 15 Congressional seats for the GOP.
• “Republicans are in strong position to keep control of the House” says Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball.  (Crystal Ball reached that assessment with a predictive model that “accurately predicted the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives and Senate in 2006 and the Republican takeover of the House in 2010.”)
• Intrade gives the GOP a 75% chance of keeping control.
• Election Projection predicts that the GOP will pick up 6 seats in November, giving it 248 members.

When most Americans look at Arizona, what do they see? (OK, besides the Grand Canyon). They see Phoenix. C’mon, admit it—we know it’s true. (Non-Chicagoans and upstate New Yorkers know what I’m talking about here).

Phoenix has several GOP House members, plus both US Senators. Tucson has Raul Grijalva, who’s chairman of the House Progressive Caucus and world-famous for calling for a boycott of his own state over SB1070.

When Speaker of the House John Boehner and the House GOP leadership look south of Phoenix, don’t we want them to see something besides “Baja Arizona?” I sure do.

Elect Jesse Kelly in CD 8. Keep Tucson from being marginalized in Congress.