Some background on Rick Barber:
He is running for HoR in Alabama's 2nd District (basically Montgomery). He is a Tea Party candidate trying to win the Republican nomination (he founded the Tea Party in Montgomery, and ran it for 18 months before stepping aside to run). He did indeed trail his toughest opponent (Martha Roby) by 30-40 points back in February, but made the runoff in the June Primary, trailing by 8 points even though he was out-spent by Roby 7-1. He has continued to close the gap since the primary, and the runoff is the first week in July. It will be close.
The winner will face Bobby Bright in the Mid Term in November. You may know Bright as the Rookie Rep from Alabama who is a Blue Dog Democrat (has yet to vote with the Dems on any issue of significance). The point being that regardless of who wins Alabama's 2nd, the Dems will not pick up, or hold a vote.
I believe Rick will win the runoff, but I'm not sure he will beat Bright in November. Though a Democrat, Bright is well liked in the overwhelmingly Republican 2nd District because he is faithful to his constituents, and votes as we direct him to, which is almost always against the current Administration and the Congressional Majority.
In short, Rick Barber is a rock star here, coming out of nowhere and suddenly having a shot to win it all. A long shot, but realistic.
He is a great guy. A Marine, a successful businessman, and a rabid Constitutionalist. His top priorities are:
1. De-fund Healthcare
2. Better funding for Veterans and VA
3. Removing corruption/cronyism/status-quo from Congress
4. Fair Tax
I am a gun dealer, so yes....Barber has my vote as long as he is still in the race
However, if he doesn't win the runoff, I will likely vote for Bright. Roby is conservative as well, but she is actually the one who is perceived as running a negative campaign. She was hugely popular early on, and the shoe-in, until her campaign began to take shape and Barber began to take advantage of it.
Either one of them will have a large task in unseating Bright. He has represented this District well, even though he is a Democrat. He has stood up to Pelosi so often, that she has finally given up on him. We expect Bright to run as a Republican or Tea Party in or 2012 (if he loses) or 2014 (if he wins), even if (maybe ESPECIALLY if) he runs for Senator in 2016 (Senator Jeff Sessions will be re-elected until he retires, and Senator Richard Shelby is close to retirement now, but will serve one more term as he will certainly win the election in November in a massive landslide (he won his primary by 60 points).