Is Stanton afraid to say he’ll back Pelosi?

Applause, please, for the Arizona politician who demonstrated the most artful — not to mention long-winded — political dodge of the year.

And the award goes to ... Greg Stanton.

The former Phoenix mayor and Democratic candidate for Congress managed to wax on for 136 words in response to a question at Tuesday’s Congressional District 9 debate — not a one of them an actual answer to the question posed.

Cue Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, who along with Channel’s 8’s Horizon host Ted Simons moderated last week’s debate between Stanton and Republican Steve Ferrara:

“What happens with health care is obviously going to head down to leadership in the House. Who would you support as your party boss in the House?”

Stanton: “Well, I’m running for Congress right now and I’m running one heck of a strong race, a grassroots, people-powered campaign. That is my complete focus. I’ve actually not had a single conversation with anyone about leadership, nor should I. The people who are supporting me, the thousands of people that have come out to walk door-to-door for me or make phone calls to win this in a grassroots way, they want me to be their advocate. Their advocate on health-care issues and protecting people with preexisting conditions. They want me to be an advocate to bring a strong infrastructure investment bill before Congress and move forward with it. They want me to be an advocate on climate change issues, etc. So actually, I haven’t had a single conversation with anyone about that issue.”

Simons: “There are lots (of people) who have associated you with others in Congress including Nancy Pelosi. Would you support her remaining in leadership?”

Stanton: “Well, I am running a grassroots campaign, a people-oriented campaign. I haven’t had a single conversation with anyone about that issue. So I have not taken a position on that, only because I haven’t had a single conversation about that.”

Simons: “You’ve got a question right now about the issue. What do you think?”

Stanton: “Well after this election, when I win this election, I’m going to find out who the candidates are and I’m going to support the candidate that is best for the state of Arizona.”

Is this guy good or what?

Not even two months ago, Pelosi came to Phoenix to headline a private fundraiser for Stanton. She has donated $2,000 to Stanton’s campaign and her political-action committee, PAC to the Future, has chipped in another $5,000, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

But it hasn’t even crossed Stanton’s mind to consider whether he would support her bid for House speaker should Democrats take control in January? It never came up when Pelosi traveled here to raise money for his campaign? Really?

Stanton is running in one of Arizona’s few swing congressional districts, hoping not to upset Republicans in his quest to inherit the seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.

Thus, he answered three questions by not answering them — and he managed to work in the word “grassroots” three times.

Given his skill in not actually saying anything, I would guess Stanton is likely to have a long career in Washington.

Compare this political pro’s keen powers of evasion with the far less seasoned response given by Ferrara, a former Navy chief medical officer in this, his first run for office.

Wingett Sanchez, after noting Stanton’s dodge, posed the same question to Ferrara:

His answer took all of two words:

“Kevin McCarthy.”