well lookie here...

[elessa]

i had noticed a few headlines on news sites regarding "joe the plumber". didn't bother reading as i figured he is an incarnation of "joe sixpack".

as most of you know, i don't own a television so i haven't seen any of the soundbites/news clips.

i have taken this from psyyche to share. she has scrounged up quite a bit of interesting info. (thanks, psyyche!)

Those of you who are following the presidential circus are probably familiar with McCain's new friend, "Joe the Plumber." I'd never heard of Joe before McCain referenced him 25+ times (the official count I think was 26). I didn't think there was a real "Joe the Plumber".. it just sounded like McCain had expanded upon Palin's "Joe Six-Pack" character in a theoretical sense to connect more with down-home, blue-collar values voters. A stretch, I thought, but I could see him doing that.

I learned after watching the debate that there really was a Joe the Plumber. I watched his original random interaction with Obama on the street, and I found it a little contrived. Joe's situation seemed well-tailored to pose a problem for Obama, but... maybe he just was truly concerned. He said he was an undecided voter trying to figure out where each candidate stood on things. I thought it was strange that Joe was ready to drop his dream because any (net) profit over $250k would be taxed at an additional 3% over the current rate. That seemed kind of piddly, and a plumber making more than $250k/year net is doing pretty damned well. Joe the Plumber didn't sit right with me. So I turned to the almighty innertoobs to see if anyone else had felt this way.

Turns out that yes, lots of people got the fake vibe from Mr. Joe the Plumber. And lots of people have been doing a lot of research to figure out who he really is. And wow, did they find stuff. A lot of this is speculation, and speculation from very biased anti-GOP folk. Some of it is passing fact-checks already. I think tonight's news may prove very interesting for McCain's credibiity.

Here's what's been found:

He seems to be Samuel Joseph Wurtzelbacher. If so:

* His plumber's license expired in 2002.

* He owns several businesses already.

* He is a registered Republican who voted for McCain in the Republican primaries on March 4.

* He has a state income tax lien of $1,182.98.

* His ex-wife left him to go to a Battered Women's shelter. (I just noticed the Arizona address. Interesting.)


Here are some loose connections that haven't been confirmed so far (and I know "Wurzelbacher" is a really common name, but...):

* He may be closely related to Robert Wurzelbacher (of Cinncinnati, OH), Charles Keating's son-in-law. Yes, Keating Five Charles Keating. And he's a very active Republican donor.

* There seems to be a Doug Wurzelbacher, active in competitive dog sled racing. In Wasilla, AK. It's a really big town, though..


Also interesting:

* He said in interviews that he had no idea he was going to be mentioned in the debates.

* Despite this, he had camera crews at his house filming his reactions during the debate.

* He did follow-up interviews with mostly conservative organizations post-debate, slamming Obama and curiously very familiar with most aspects of McCain's economic and tax talking points. But he's just a simple plumber?

* "Joe the Plumber," whoever he really is, later compared Obama to a "tap-dancing Sammy Davis Jr." and a socialist in post-debate media interviews. Classy.



now, like psyyche i think i shall fix myself a large bowl of popcorn and sit back to see what else transpires.