Posted by
Locutisprime on Friday, October 17, 2008 8:18:50 AM
After
making Joseph Wurzelbacher famous, McCain learned 3 key facts -- Joe
owes back taxes, isn't licensed and Obama's plan would cut Joe's taxes.
Photo: AP
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If there ever was a question of the media creating the news then deciding which direction it would take? this has got to be the example. The "Joe The Plumber" story has now become the "Not So Average Joe" morph by the media.
The media created this guy. the media was responsible for thrusting this guy into the national spotlight, via their example and analogy of how this Joe six pack average Joe plumber type guy, would be one of the targets of Barack Obama's Tax and spend platform.
Therefore, was it predictable or unexpected? Was it some huge mystery that John McCain would recognize the potential value of highlighting the example provided to him by the media and the Obama campaign? I think not. But somehow the MS media now wants to portray the subsequent revelations that have come to light about Joe the plumber? As some misstep or gaff or failure to vet on the part of John McCain and his campaign.
What a load of horse hockey!
The media made Joe Plumber and now that their creation has been revealed to not be exactly what they had previously represented? Now that is somehow the failure and responsibility of John McCain and his campaign?
Laughable.
McCain discovers plumber no ordinary Joe
NEW YORK – John McCain hung his final presidential debate performance on an Ohio plumber who campaign aides never vetted.
A day after making Joseph Wurzelbacher famous, referencing him in the debate almost two dozen times as someone who would pay higher taxes under Barack Obama, McCain learned the fine print Thursday on the plumber’s not-so-tidy personal story: He owes back taxes. He is not a licensed plumber. And it turns out that Wurzelbacher makes less than $250,000 a year, which means he would receive a tax cut if Obama were elected president.
McCain likes to say that he isn’t George W. Bush – and in this case of bungled public relations, it is clear he is not. The famously-disciplined Bush campaign operation would likely have found the perfect anonymous citizen to illustrate a policy proposal, rather than spontaneously wrap itself around an unknown entity with so many asterisks.
While the arc of Wurzelbacher’s breakneck trip through the news cycle – from private citizen to insta-celebrity to political target – offers a curious insight into the political media culture, it also appears to offer a glimpse into the McCain campaign’s on-the-fly decision making style.