Good old Joe

Last night during the debate, Ace brought up a guy named Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio. Joe was filmed asking Obama about his tax plan during a campaign appearance; the video is available on YouTube and lasts a little less than six minutes. Obama took that long to hear about Joe's worries and give him an on-the-level explanation of the plusses and minuses of his plan as it relates to Joe's situation. I've seen the video, and Joe shouldn't have much to bitch about, although he's quoted as saying Obama tap dances as well as Sammy Davis Jr. Which may tell us a lot about Joe.

Ace, being something of a Johnny One Note, kept returning to Joe the plumber references throughout the debate, and finally even Obama got into the act. Joe the plumber is now the punchline to a national joke, and it turns out his story may not be all it's cracked up to be. There are some interesting coincidences being discussed on the internet, and Joe has attracted the kind of attention that one gets when a Republican candidate for president brings one up about twenty times in a televised debate.

Added 4:30 pm: It's amazing how Joe has spread all over television and the internet. His life is becoming an open book, and I know I wouldn't like that if it happened to me. He can thank Fox News for bringing him to the attention of Speedo's campaign and Speedo himself for running the references into the ground at the debate. I don't know if Joe expected this much bright light but he's getting it, and if he starts dancing around in the spotlight too much, he'll deserve whatever comes his way. Among the rightwingers he's another Sarah Palin; someone who pops up out of obscurity to become the latest savior for a fading cause.

Added 5:42 pm, Friday 17 October:

Sooner or later Joe the plumber will sink back into the oblivion from which he emerged, but while he's still an item, it's interesting that Speedo wants to lay the blame for the skinhead's media exposure on Obama. Let's imagine for a moment that Speedbump had made one fleeting reference to Joe within the first two minutes of the debate and not mentioned him again for the remaining 88 minutes. Does anyone think Obama was going to start talking about a conservative skinhead who's voting for McCain ? Not hardly. Most Americans have a five-minute attention span, and half of them would've missed Joe's name even on the first and only reference. Nobody would know who Joe the plumber was or care about him one way or the other. Joe seems like a guy who wanted a little attention; now he's getting it. And Speedbump is proving himself to be a bigger fool with each passing day. He's either delusional or has so much contempt for the public he thinks everybody's as goddamned stupid as the typical Republican. Probably some of both.