The Rick Barber revolution has come to an end — at least for tonight.
Barber, the businessman and Tea Party-backed House candidate who attracted the national spotlight after he ran an ad in which he met with America’s founding fathers (played by actors) and talked to them about the tyranny of the Obama administration — followed by George Washington saying “Gather your armies” — has been defeated in the Republican primary runoff for Alabama’s Second District. With 83% of precincts reporting, Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby leads by 61%-39%.
Back in the June 1 first-round primary, Roby fell just short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff, with 49% to Barber’s 29%. Barber then gained national prominence through the “gather your armies” ad, and another spot in which Abraham Lincoln declared that modern taxation and government social spending was “slavery.” (Never mind that Lincoln was a lifelong champion of the big-government policies of his day, the Whig “internal improvements.”)
Roby will now face conservative Democratic Rep. Bobby Bright, who won his first term with 50.2% of the vote in 2008. The district voted 63%-37% for John McCain in 2008, so Roby could have a chance here. As for Rick Barber…who knows what he’ll do next.
