Joe the Plumber

I didn't watch all of the debate two nights ago, so I missed a couple hundred of the references to Joe the Plumber. I DID watch the first 15 minutes or so of the debate, and I managed to hear about three or four references to him in that much time, and I did listen to the last 30 minutes of the debate on the radio, and I heard him mentioned several times then as well.

Yesterday I watched the six minute video that started the whole business, and I have to say that Joe seems like a plant to me. He said in interviews Thursday morning that he hasn't decided on a candidate and that he just wanted to ask one of them a tough question. I don't buy that. This guy is a Republican all the way, and he knew exactly what he was doing. He knew to state that his business was going to make SLIGHTLY more than $250,000, which would bump him into a higher tax bracket. He was a plant all the way. I think Obama did a relatively good job of answering him, too.

On the other hand, in many ways this whole situation is Obama's fault. Obama basically said nothing in that six minute interview that he hadn't said in the first two debates (and reiterated in Wednesday night's debate as well) with the exception of the one phrase "spread the wealth around." It was a dumb move on his part. I actually think I lean more toward socialistic capitalism than I do pure capitalism (as does anyone else who is in favor of Social Security), but even I know that the phrase "spread the wealth around" is going to push people's buttons. Obama deserves the flack he's receiving for having said it. It was just a slip of the tongue, I think, but it does reveal his socialist leanings.

In the end, though, I don't think Joe the Plumber or this third debate is going to hault Obama's climb. As I predicted a couple of weeks ago, I think it will be clear on Election Day, before anyone ever goes to the polls, that Obama is going to win. The suspense will be by how much. Will it be close or will it be a landslide? Will the Democrats pick up enough seats in Congress that they'll be able to prevent any filibustering? Those will be the questions that will be asked. We'll be able to go to bed on election night knowing who won.

Which is good. We could use that kind of election night after the last couple of elections.

P.S. I bet this guy is getting lots of traffic to his site today. I hope he gets enough business that he, too, can make $250,000 a year as a plumber!

P.P.S. You can watch the critical parts of the video yourself below.