Fear, Ignorance, and Plumbing on the Campaign Trail

Petulant Presidential candidate John McCain deflected meaningful dialog during last night’s debate by introducing the nation to “Joe The Plumber,”not a Mafia figure but a skilled Ohio tradesman whose last name Senator McCain can’t remember (it’s Wurzelbacher).

The McCain campaign saw a newscast of Mr. Wurzelbacher asking Senator Obama a question at an Ohio rally. Joe didn’t understand the answer, perhaps due to the McCain media blanket of fear and disinformation. In the third and last Presidential Debate of 2008,  John McCain repeatedly mentioned Joe as an example of an actual working person the millionaire Republican might care about, even if he can’t remember his name.

“J the P” showed up at an Obama rally and asked the candidate a business investment question. Joe thinks the Obama tax plan will cost him more than the McCain tax plan. It won’t, and Senator Obama told Joe that. Despite his obvious knowledge of hydraulics and building codes, “Joe The Plumber” doesn’t seem to know much about business. Joe needs to meet “Milton the Accountant” more than he needs to meet either presidential candidate.

More importantly, it it time to scrap the absurd media events misnamed “presidential debates” and adopt meaningful formats. Perhaps the pre-Tim Russert version of “Meet the Press” would be best, a jury box full of professional reporters (not opinionators) asking questions and follow-up questions.

No voter minds were changed by last night’s foolish reality TV show (even Joe the Plumber’s not talking).

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com.