Dem. Candidate Refuses to Say He'll Vote for Obama

More Democrats seem to be distancing themselves from President Obama. Politico finds this nugget from a debate between Democrat Ron Barber and his Republican opponent, Jesse Kelly, in Arizona's Eighth Congressional District (Gabby Giffords's home district):

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.”

Here's video of the exchange:

Politico also notes that Heidi Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat seeking to replace retiring Democrat Kent Conrad in the Senate, told the Associated Press that Obama “failed in the one test America had for him, which was to unite the country.”

These aren't the first Democrats to publicly distance themselves from the president. In fact, two elected Democrats from West Virginia, Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and Senator Joe Manchin, have refused to say if they will vote for Obama in the general election.