Joe is everybody

Republican presidential nominee John McCain says each of us is Joe the Plumber. Apparently every citizen of the United States of America is a white, middle class male with a small business that earns more than $250,000 a year.

Well that is news to me. Last I checked I was a female college student making no money. It makes me wonder: Who is this man everyone has found a common thread with?

Joe the Plumber is actually Samuel Joe Wurzelbacher and he is not much of a plumber. In fact, he never served an apprenticeship, does not own a license or belong to a plumbers’ union (four of which endorse Barack Obama).

He is a 34-year-old single father who stumbled upon accidental fame.
 
Wurzelbacher came to notoriety when he approached the Democratic presidential nominee and accused him of stalling his dream of purchasing a plumbing business that would make more than $250,000 because of the higher taxes that would be enacted. It was this encounter that elicited from Obama the now infamous statement, “I think that when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

Since that exchange, Joe the Plumber has become the moniker for Wurzelbacher and the latest campaign strategy for McCain. Republicans have latched onto the idea of a hard-working, middle class American who will be hurt by Barack Obama’s tax hikes.

So McCain has ditched his slogan of “Straight Talk Express” for a campaign that focuses on letting Americans keep the wealth they earn. It is a last-ditch effort for McCain who is trailing Barack Obama in national polls and it is working ... kind of. McCain is now leading Obama by one percentage point in Florida.

Now everybody can relate to Joe the Plumber. Log onto John McCain’s Web site and you can see video testimony from Bill the Contractor, Duane the Entrepreneur, Joe the Magician and Tara the Teacher. Apparently in a world run by a McCain-Palin administration, all Americans are straight out of a children’s show where a person is reduced to nothing more then his or her employment. I cannot wait for Bob the Builder to upload his personal story.

Fortunately for Joe, he is looking to put the plumber nickname aside for something a little more prestigious, say, Joe the Congressman? Since his brush with fame, he is considering a run for office in 2010. But Joe the Country Music Star could be coming a lot sooner. Wurzelbacher recently signed with a Nashville public relations firm to begin a shift from toilets to the stage. An album could be out as soon as Inauguration Day. With a career change like that, Wurzelbacher probably will not be as concerned with Obama’s tax hikes. Sorry, John.