Based upon my memories, Ronald Reagan perfected the art of using the common man as the archetypal political example, the everyman whose issue, concerns, interests and deeds could be held out to America as the embodiment of all that was good. About Reagan, that is.
In the final debate of the 2008 presidential election cycle, a new American hero was born. Joe the Plumber. I never gave it much thought in the past, assuming that the candidates/officials obtained the permission of their heroes before holding them out to the public. Even so, never was one so abruptly thrust into the spotlight as Joe, or exploited so shamelessly.
In the day hours minutes following the debate, Joe became a sensation, with his name uttered by every pundit and embossed upon t-shirts by struggling entrepreneurs. No one could have anticipated just how huge this fellow would become, or how quickly he was thrust upon the pedestal of public attention.
But as most newfound heroes learn, adoration carries a high price. Not just the total loss of privacy, but the digging for dirt, the public vetting, that invariably seeks to knock him off the pedestal. So it happened with poor Joe. By the next morning, news outlets reported that Joe was not really a plumber, that Joe had an IRS tax lien, that Joe wasn’t netting a quarter million dollars a year.
What did Joe do to deserve this?
As John McCain first invoked the name of Joe the Plumber, I wondered whether Joe knew that he was about to become an icon in a nasty, vicious campaign. Joe asked a question of Senator Obama at a rally. He had every right to ask a question, to wonder what Obama’s policies meant for him. But that wasn’t an invitation to become the darling of the other side, to be held up to the entire nation as proof of . . . something.
McCain spoke of Joe the Plumber as if he was his best friend, though from his speech patterns, it seems that everyone is his friend though he’s never invited me to dinner. It seemed as if McCain knew Joe well, the intricacies of his life, his finances, his goals and dreams. Was Joe prepared to have his life spread open to the public? Would he have asked Obama a question knowing that it would lead to the media proctologists conducting a very thorough examination?
I don’t think Joe deserves to be in this position. He may not be perfect, but there aren’t too many of us whose life is so clean that we can withstand such scrutiny. Nor should an ordinary person who has done nothing more than ask a fair question of a candidate be made the centerpiece of a presidential debate. He never sought the limelight.
To the extent that his occupation, financial condition and concerns were broadcast to the nation, it wasn’t by Joe. He never held himself out as an exemplar. John McCain is the one who laid claim on Joe, and one could surmise from McCain’s having not known Joe’s last name that he really wasn’t as close with Joe as he made it appear.
McCain may not have known Joe at all, in fact, and may only have used the few details whispered in his ear by a staffer. Perhaps he didn’t invite Joe to dinner either, though I suspect if he did, he would have called him, “my friend.”
So get out of Joe’s life. Leave Joe alone. Stop picking him to shreds, you vultures of the trivial, exposing his every foible to public scrutiny. Joe never asked for it. Joe did nothing to seek it. If you want a person to examine, use the one who claimed Joe, without Joe’s permission, and exploited him unmercifully.
I don’t know Joe, but I know that no regular person needs to be ripped apart in an effort to find some lie, some deception, some deceit. Joe didn’t deceive anyone. If there was misrepresentation, look to the person who invoked his name, but leave Joe the Plumber out of it. Joe is innocent of any wrongdoing.
Let Joe Go! Let Joe Go! And get back to things that matter.
H/T Lowering the Bar for the post-debate pic of the candidates. In fairness, Kevin airs a goofy pic of Obama as well.
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I disagree with your premises about Joe’s privacy being violated.
Joe chose to insert himself into a public campaign with media present. Joe publicly misrepresented who he was and what his concerns were.
After asking his question of Obama, “Joe” (actually Samuel) chose to continue to talk to the media, and specifically continued speaking to media after the debate.
He has since called press conferences and accepted appearances on national new programs to support McCain.
In these appearances and press conferences he has apparently given conflicting accounts of his prior connections with the McCain campaign.
In addition, not once has he called out McCain or criticized him for repeatedly invoking his name on national TV. If it bothers Joe that he is being publicly vetted against his will, wouldn’t he have said so–quite loudly?
Instead, he’s gone along for the ride, and likely is cashing in pretty handsomly.
I don’t know how you can say that Joe chose to insert himself. Asking a question of a candidate is hardly tantamount to asking to be the focus of a presidential campaign. On the other hand, his post debate conduct certainly seems to show that he’s not entirely averse to enjoying his 15 minutes, though I’m not sure he has much of a choice with the media camped out around him. But cause and effect must be distinguished, and his choice (if it is one) to capitalize on his moment of fame doesn’t mean that he deserved it in the first place.
As I understand it, the guy was playing catch with his kid in his own yard when Obama, press in tow, came by. Nothing wrong with that — on either side. He then got involved in an argument/discussion/question with the candidate, captured on tape.
The arguments/discussion/question — and Obama’s answer — had some resonance with a fair number of folks, and the McCain campaign picked up on the issue.
So, naturally, some folks supporting Obama have made all sorts of accusations — including the horrible one that while he’s called “Joe”, his name really is “Samuel” — in an attempt to discredit the guy. It’s important, some of them think, to expose that he’s got a tax lien, what his address is, and to accuse a guy who shaves his head of being a skinhead.
Uh oh. Partisan alert. The liberal mainstream media who shamelessly adores Obama did that. Get your facts right. Today is evil MSM day. Tomorrow is evil Obama day.
I didn’t get the memo; sorry.