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Did an Ohio Plumber Just Win John McCain the White House?

by John F. Tamburo, Editor in Chief, Publisher
Originally Posted: 10/17/2008 9:03:52 AM

Joe Wurtzelbacher (who we will just call "Joe the Plumber" from now on so that I don’t misspell the man’s surname) is a plumber from the Toledo area of Ohio.  He was the most-mentioned subject of the last debate, because the man caught Barack Obama in a rare moment of candor.  Joe the Plumber, you see, would like to buy out his boss.  When that happens, the hard-working plumber would make over $250,000 per year.  Mr. Obama’s answer to Joe the Plumber is, as Michelle Malkin rightly notes, a "chilling Marxist mantra."  Mr. Obama wants to take Joe’s money and "spread the wealth" to those who did not earn it.

While the talking heads, in a breathtaking display of cluelessness, derided Mr. McCain’s debate performance, the man, as Rush noted on October 16, over and over, won the debate.  Why?  He showed off Mr. Obama and his running mate as the "socialist overlords" that Michelle Malkin rightly labels them.  Joe the Plumber served up the soft pitch, Mr. McCain squared up and hit the ball out of the park and onto Waveland Avenue with the wind blowing in at 100 miles per hour (yes this is a Cubs reference).

How do we know that Joe the Plumber is a hit?  Easy.  First, take a look at the "destroy Joe the Plumber" attack machine within the Obama campaign.  The man’s tax records, plumbing license (oops -- he didn’t get a union plumbing license although he completed a full apprenticeship), divorce records and every sort of dealing the man has ever had were scrutinized to the tiniest detail.  He was falsely accused of not being a registered voter.  Democrat leaders are tyrants, socialists and enemies of freedom.  It’s only natural of them to attempt destroy that over which they cannot triumph intellectually.

The second sign that Joe is a hit.  The polls just before Joe popped up were trending strongly toward Mr. Obama, so much so that The Wall Street Journal wrote an ominous warning of the end of freedom in America under Democrat party super-majority rule.  But that article was written before the debate.  Now, the presidential polls have tightened to 49-47 Obama in the Gallup most likely poll.  That’s a tie, folks.  Furthermore, Gallup is weighted with a pro-Democrat bias; it’s likely that Mr. McCain is winning.  IDB/TIPP, the most accurate poll in 2004, shows 45 Obama, 43 McCain.

The election is nearly three weeks off.  That is a long time to ride Joe the Plumber’s coattails. Mr. Obama was already uneasy about his chances, spending $4 million to buy 30-minute spots on the networks.  Rush correctly notes that Obama would only do that if he needs to do so.  McCain, however, also needs to do so; I hope that Mr. McCain is stashing his cash for a Monday night half-hour of fun and joy -- the Monday before the election.  Right after Chuck.  Sponsor Heroes commercial free with a nice long lead-in.

McCain’s surge is working.  Did an Ohio plumber just win John McCain the White House?  Did a brave midwestern blue-collar man just take down the media-fueled juggernaut of an extreme socialist?  We will see.  Right now, however, my answer is yes.