I’d Have a Beer With “Joe the Plumber”
Last night was it. It was the final opportunity for John McCain to make his case against Barack Obama. His last chance to spar one on one with him and take the kind of stand Republicans have been begging for since the first debate and since the economy tanked on us a couple of weeks ago. This was it. If John McCain was going to break through and resonate with a majority of voters, Wednesday night was his chance to show he’s the fighter and Maverick he claims to be.
Did he do it?
Outside of praying to the heavens “Dear God I hope so”, McCain did achieve a few things last night that desperately needed to be done.
(Read more after the leap)
First, he was fiesty. Last night Republicans finally saw the McCain they’ve been expecting for weeks. Unfortunately, the McCain that showed up last night may not be able to repair what the McCain of the last few weeks has done to his campaign.
Second, he spoke to the heart of, and specifically on, many issues and referring over and over to “Joe the Plumber” when talking about the economy and health care. Was it his chance to finally reach out to blue-collar workers?
Third, he finally took on the (uncovered by the national media) negativity of the Obama campaign and his supporters to the McCain campaign including t-shirts with lurid and foul language regarding Sarah Palin. Though Obama rightly called out some of the actions of some of McCain’s supporters, though the “Kill Him” accusation has been debunked.
In the end though, the star of the debate was “Joe the Plumber”. After seeing the video and hearing his reactions to Obama’s tax plan, I would absolutely get a beer with this guy. How does average Joe the Plumber feel about Obama’s tax plan?
“To be honest with you, that infuriates me,” plumber Joe Wurzelbacher told Nightline’s Terry Moran. “It’s not right for someone to decide you made too much—that you’ve done too good and now we’re going to take some of it back.”
Could that be the catalyst the McCain campaign needs in these final 19 days that help bring the campaign back from the brink?
Two weeks and five days will tell. But I’ll tell you this much. I’m going to refrain from making any predictions.
October 16th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
It’s no wonder that “Joe The Plumber” is opposed to paying more taxes, even though, with gross receipts of $250,000, he would pay less under Obama than under McCain.
The fact is, he refuses to pay the taxes he already owes. There’s a tax lien against him already.
And he’s not a plumber, either. He’s never apprenticed to learn the trade, much less gotten a journeyman card. His Facebook page says he’s a member of the Columbus local, but he has never been a member of that union.
In Toledo, you need either a contractor’s license or a plumber’s license to do plumbing work. Does he have a license? No.
You can have your beer with a no-account scofflaw if you want, Josh. I don’t go palling around with that kind of unamerican scum.
October 16th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
What? No links or press releases from Joe Biden (who as we recall thinks it’s unpatriotic to pay higher taxes) to back your story Harl? Seems like Joe the Plumber has gotten under your skin a bit.
But let me give you a lesson on who are UnAmerican scum. UnAmerican scum are domestic terrorists like Bill Ayers and America hating Jeremiah Wright who Barack Obama pals around with and seeks spiritual guidance from. That sir, is UnAmerican scum.
And that’s the very person you going to vote for.
October 16th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Which is worse?
Serving on a board with the publisher of the Chicago Tribune, of an organization started by Walter Annenberg, one of Ronald Reagan’s ambassadors, even though someone on the organization but NOT on the board had tried, decades earlier, to save the lives of tens of thousands of American soldiers?
Or delivering the keynote address THIS YEAR of an organization that wants to break up the United States, and continuing to sleep with someone who belongs to that organization?
Joe the Plumber’s grandfather is Charles Keating, whose crooked dealings cost the US taxpayers $2.6 billion. Keating rewarded McCain for his influence 20 years ago, and it appears his family is still paying back McCain.
October 16th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
My guess, Harl, is that Joe is working under someone else’s license. The point of the question that he asked Obama was under the assumption that he made enough money TO qualify as “rich” by Obama and pay more taxes. Obama did not deny that. He argued with Joe that it was RIGHT for him to pay more taxes–”spread the wealth”.
And yes it is worse to serve on a board with, and send money to, a domestic terrorist who is working to undermine the entire education system than to sleep with someone that belongs to an independence party.
October 17th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
BARACK OBAMA PLAYS AROUND WITH TERRORISTS. HE PLAYS BASKETBALL WITH THEM. HE USUALLY WINS.
Seriously Josh can’t you think if anything more important to criticize about Obama that his “UnAmericanness?”
Also since you asked for it he’s a link http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/16/eveningnews/realitycheck/main4527129.shtml?source=mostpop_story
Where Joe confirms he would pay less taxes under Obama’s plan.
October 17th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
I think the Ayres issue is beyond played. I’m tired of it. But when the politics of personal destruction go after an average American (who it does now appear to have a questionable financial past) who posed a simple scenario style question that got Obama to basically admit his plan is socialism and the response is trash him then I got to respond. And I was responding to Harl’s claims.
But honestly, I want to see the discussion move beyond Ayres, Wright and Rezko to the difference between the candidates on the economy, health care, education and the War. If you’ll notice, those are the issues I mentioned in the post, not Obama’s associations.
I will, however, thank you for submitting the link. I finally saw the story on politico today.
October 18th, 2008 at 4:10 am
Under both Obama’s plan and McCain’s plan, I’d pay more taxes if I made more money.
Half the federal budget goes for the military, but nobody attacks poor countries like Haiti, or Moldova. The military budget protects the rich.
People who have big expensive houses expect to pay more for their homeowner’s insurance, and they expect to pay more tax to pay for fire and police protection. Why is it unreasonable for people to pay more if they benefit more from military protection, and for trade treaties?
There’s a reason why they are called the “jet set”. Why shouldn’t they pay the costs of maintaining airports and providing air traffic control?
Someone who moves from house to house all their life, and sells their house at retirement doesn’t pay a dime of tax on that money. Someone who rents all his life doesn’t get any comparable tax break.
Someone who gets wages of $250,000 annually pays social security taxes on only 40% of his income. Someone who gets wages of $15,000 annually pays social security taxes on all of it, yet the person who makes $250,000 usually has pretty good working conditions, and is likely to live longer, collecting social security for many more years.
One day a year, I work hard to try to legally minimize my income tax. The other 364 days, I work hard to maximize my income tax.
And if you think Joe would rather make $40,000 than make $250,000, because the taxes would be lower, ask him.