Plugged Blower Carburetor

I have a Craftsman blower, that has worked very reliably, up until recently, when I started leaking gasoline and wouldn't start.

I managed to fix the gasoline leak problem, but then when I went to prime the engine, the primer bulb never seemed to be able to pressurize the gas tank and no excess gas ever seemed to circulate through the carburetor and back through the primer bulb, and then return back into the gas tank.

I finally managed to isolate the problem to an apparent plug in the inlet to the carburetor (see picture right side inlet pipe), somewhere beyond the inlet diaphram, but before the tiny little combustion chamber (backside of the picture).




There doesn't appear to be any foreign material plug or blockage, but some other physical device is now preventing the primer from pushing gasoline through to the carburetor, since an airtight blockage now resists any amount of pressurizing from the primer bulb. Does anyone have a theory on what's happening - or not happening?