Someone at work today was talking about Joe the Plumber and mentioned that I have been too hard on him because after all he's just a simple working guy who's been thrust into the spotlight. First of all, I don't buy it. He was seeking out Senator Obama to ask him a gotcha question... and it worked. He got his 15 minutes of fame and has made the rounds on all the morning shows.
But none of that is the issue. Joe the Plumber is a publicity seeking idiot, no question... but the world is chock full of morons like him... that's not the story. The real story is that John McCain miscalculated Joe's story and did not bother to vet him for veracity. He brings this guy into the conversation, mentions him 20-odd times in the debate, and it turns out Joe misrepresented himself, and even worse from a strategic standpoint, Joe's story is actually an endorsement of Obama's tax plan!
John McCain is showing signs that he either does not understand the differences between his tax plan and that of his opponent or he's too uncareful to vet his debate props. Either way, McCain is not fit for the job. Joe the Plumber may be just a humorous side-show, but I do find it disconcerting that McCain has shown so little discipline in his tactics and strategy, and is so quick to lower the discourse to a cynical appeal to his warped perception of "the working man", as if he would have a clue as to what that is. Very telling... that's the real story.
The surreal thing is that McCain is still invoking Joe at rallies. Furthermore, he does not even understand teh Obama tax cuts as evidenced by his characterization of it. Is McCain stable?
1 comment:
No. This has been another round of "Simple Answers to Simple Questions".
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