If there’s one thing that Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) does well even today, it’s drive anyone who can’t vote him out of office insane.

It’s not particularly hard to find people outside of Ward 8 who wonder just how the man keeps getting re-elected to office, and yes, the proportion of residents who remain supporters and those that want him gone often tracks closely with the city’s fractious demographics.

In a must-read profile of the mayor-for-life today, though, Barry tells the AP’s Ben Nuckols that he has his white supporters, but even those who dislike can’t do much to get rid of him:

“I have more white support than people say I do, but I don’t worry about that,” Barry said, referring to the ward he represents. “That’s what frustrates some of these white people out here. They get frustrated, all worked up. They can’t do a damn thing to me or about me. Isn’t that funny?”

Well, sure, it’s certainly funny for Barry, but his foes aren’t laughing, nor are his challengers in the April 3 primary taking the task of unseating him lightly.

As of yesterday’s filing deadline for nominating petitions, six people are running against Barry in the Democratic primary, including two who have challenged him before and a former spokeswoman, who he recently took to task in a press release that earned him a stiff rebuke from D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown.

Still, there’s something to Barry’s flippant attitude towards anyone who dislikes him. The man has been shot at, arrested, served jail time, had a kidney replaced, driven his busted Jaguar on Pennsylvania Avenue in full view of the District’s press corps, called his own ward a “ghetto,” and otherwise skated through one scandal after another. I’m also convinced that the IRS must have him on a list of the country’s most distinguished tax scofflaws.

If I had made it through that much and could well earn a third term on the D.C. Council, I’d be laughing too.