Who is Joe the Plumber?
“Joe the Plumber,” also known as Joe Wurzelbacher, is a 34 year old plumber from northwestern Ohio who unintentionally stepped (or rather was pulled) into the political scene after speaking with Barack Obama at a campaign appearance in Toledo, Ohio. The entire exchange between Barack Obama and Joe Wurzelbacher began after Joe asked the Presidential hopeful if he believed in the American Dream. The conversation was all caught on tape and is shown below:
You can see from the above video clip that Obama gets into a discussion with Joe regarding whether or not any new taxes would affect him being able to buy out the plumbing company that he works for, Newell Plumbing & Heating Co., in order to expand and grow the business. Obama answered by telling him that families making more than $250,000 could see taxes go up while those making less than $250,000 would not see any increase. Obama would go on to explain how lowering the amount of taxes for Americans who make less money would ultimately help them be able to patronize his business.
“I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody,” Obama told Wurzelbacher.
I don’t think that anyone could have expected that this middle-class plumber from some small-town in Ohio would later become a key talking point in a nationally televised event….but it did.
During the third Presidential Debate on Wednesday, October 15th, Senator John McCain brought up Joe, refering to him as “Joe the Plumber,” as an example of “hard working, average Americans” who would be hurt by the new tax plan. Throughout the debate Obama and McCain would continue to make references to Joe the Plumber, using him as a symbol of an ordinary American and how he would be affected by each of their proposed plans. In total, “Joe the Plumber” was mentioned 25 times whereas words like “Iraq” would only come up 6 times. The “Economy?” Sixteen. It was by far the most talked about issue during the 90 minute program.
Joe the Plumber is not the first “Joe” to be be invoked by McCain’s party, earlier in the month his nominee for Vice-President, Sarah Palin, referred to a “Joe Six-Pack American” during a radio interview while trying to describe the effect that her ‘folksiness’ has had on the country.
“I think they’re just not used to someone coming in from the outside saying, ‘You know what? It’s time that normal Joe Six-Pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency,’ and I think that that’s kind of taken some people off-guard,” she told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
The McCain campaign has also started using Joe the Plumber, including footage from the Ohio face-to-face in recent television commercials:
Since the third Presidential Debate, usage of the phrase “Joe the Plumber” has become wide-spread as a synonym for the Average American.
But now what does good ol’ Joe Wurzelbacher have to say about this? He’s flattered.
“I’m just completely flabbergasted with this whole thing,” he said. “I hope I’m not making too much of a fool of myself.”
