So Barack Obama came to Joe Wurzelbacher’s town looking for votes, and Joe asked him a question about tax policy. As sometimes happens when Obama is not scripted or hyper-prepped, Obama revealed his real thinking on the matter. That thinking, as usual, was decidedly leftist. Delighted that Obama’s mask had dropped for a brief moment, John McCain pounced.
For the sin of causing Obama to talk candidly, Joe has come under fire. According to Michelle Malkin lefty bloggers are excited by reports that Joe is related to a guy who is the son-in-law of Charles Keating and who served time in connection with Keating’s role in the savings and loan scandal. Is the theory that Obama was entrapped into saying what he thought?
Meanwhile, the press is attempting to find dirt on Joe. So far it has discovered that he doesn’t have a plumber’s license (but he apparently doesn’t need one because he’s working for a licensed company) and that Joe owes less than $2,000 in taxes. That’s more digging than the press did on Bill Ayers, Obama’s political ally, and more than all but one reporter did on Rev. Wright, Obama’s spiritual mentor, until the story broke quite belatedly.
Finally, as John has noted, Talkin’ Joe Biden weighed in by expressing doubts that a mere plumber could ever make $250,000 a year.
I don’t see Obama’s response to Joe the Plumber saving this election for John McCain. But to the extent that Obama, or his supporters, or his sympathizers in the media are seen as attacking the guy, there might well be a backlash. After all, Joe isn’t running for office; he’s just trying to make a living.
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