# Joe the Plumber Jumps Shark **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 16, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271 "2008-10-16T21:18:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/101 "2008-10-30T19:24:30Z")
He told McCain he would show up to the rally sometime between 8 am and Noon. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/102 "2008-10-30T19:34:03Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > He told McCain he would show up to the rally sometime between 8 am and Noon. ::applause:: ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/103 "2008-10-30T20:31:30Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I bet he’s not even a real meteorologist! :mad: Neither was Sarah Palin, dude. Don’t go there. Keep 'em distracted with her wardrobe! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/104 "2008-10-30T21:12:31Z")
NPR’s playing an interview with a McCain spokesborg who kept harping on Joe the Plumber and said the phrase “words of wisdom and economic expertise” and referred to him as a “small business owner.” :shakes head: ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/105 "2008-10-30T21:46:20Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > What does it mean to Joe the Plumber’s value when even a Fox News Guy rips him and emphatically calls him wrong about Obama being Israel’s death knell? > > Here is the YouTube link of [Shep Smith grills Joe the Plumber on Israel](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eSJuWgZGYo) Oh man. It’s great seeing that sort of incredulous reaction from a Fox “News” person, for a change. Joe sounded like a ditto-head dope. “Go out and get informed.” Gee, thanks, Joe. This guy wouldn’t last a second in Great Debates as long as he refuses to defend his opinions after opening up his six-pack hole on national TeeVee. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/106 "2008-10-31T15:18:05Z")
Joe the Plumber was [back on the stump yesterday](http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=96369297&m=96369284): [QUOTE=Joe the Plumber] Don’t listen to talk show hosts. Don’t sit there and listen to papers. I mean, get out there. Get the information. Learn it. You know, the facts are out there. Once you find out the facts, they become quite obvious. [/QUOTE] This from a guy that gets his facts from people he doesn’t even know nor has any responsibility or known reputation of dealing in fact versus superstition. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/107 "2008-10-31T15:32:10Z")
He won’t tell me what the facts are or where I can get them; he only tells me that I can’t get them from newspapers. They’re just … out there. It’s just shoddy partisan hackery from what I see. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/108 "2008-10-31T23:16:28Z")
I assume he means “believe anything you read in a racist email your uncle sends you.” ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/109 "2008-11-04T20:08:01Z")
A [pretty good summation](http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2008/11/joementum.php): > [@](#): > > It’s fascinating to me how McCain, who spent so much of 1999-2005 at loggerheads with elements of the conservative base, keeps forgetting the distinction between things that make the base excited and things that help his campaign. Sarah Palin is the obvious example, but Joe is in some ways a deeper and truer example. The idea behind the Joe the Plumber saga is that Barack Obama would be bad for people like Joe, a small business owner who is (putatively) prosperous enough to be hit by Obama’s tax hikes on people with over $250,000 in annual income. Of course Joe doesn’t actually earn that much. But if he had, Joe would just be the very model of a hard-core Republican. Whites are more Republican than non-whites. Men are more Republican than women. Small business owners are more Republican than any other occupational group. High-income people are more Republican than are middle-class and poor people. And among white people, those with no college degree are more Republican than those with college degrees. > > Thus, a white male small-business owner practicing a blue collar trade and earning enough money to be hit by Obama’s tax hikes is nothing other than the Platonic Ideal of a Republican (think Tom DeLay when he owned a successful bug-killing business). Republican crowds go wild for Joe because they can identify with him. But by the same token, the people who identify with Joe are the Republican base. They can’t turn this thing around. And they’re certainly not the people you’re supposed to be talking to in October. It’d be as if Barack Obama were criss-crossing the country with a young, hip lesbian acting as his main surrogate to attack McCain’s health care plan. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/110 "2008-11-04T20:16:44Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > I assume he means “believe anything you read in a racist email your uncle sends you.” Oh you get those too? Or are we related? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/111 "2008-11-04T20:22:53Z")
[Joe the Plumber is an Idiot](http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/03/joe-plumber-plans-life-election/). Can you seriously come to any other conclusion? He is the most inarticulate figure in this election. He thinks he’s going to be A) an author B) a congressman or C) run a charity McCain made this fool famous, so that’s not Joe’s fault. He’s too stupid to realize he’s way out of his depth in either of those fields. He is against Obama because he would possibly pay more taxes (which he doesn’t pay) when he buys his boss’s business (which won’t happen now because he’s unemployed). But who knows? I imagine the right-wing will drop him as soon as they realize how dumb he is. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/112 "2008-11-04T22:04:37Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > I imagine the right-wing will drop him as soon as they realize how dumb he is. After nearly 8 years of Bush, you’re actually going to try and pass something like that off _without_ some kind of winking smilie? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/113 "2008-11-04T22:39:02Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > But who knows? I imagine the right-wing will drop him as soon as they realize how dumb he is. No dumber than [this](http://wonkette.com/404082/palin-to-black-person-todd-i-live-with-racial-discrimination-too), and I suspect she’s going to stick around for a bit longer. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/114 "2008-11-04T22:56:38Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > He won’t tell me what the facts are or where I can get them; he only tells me that I can’t get them from newspapers. They’re just … out there. > > It’s just shoddy partisan hackery from what I see. It’s obvious that the facts are all located in the nearest bar, where his bleary-eyed cohorts regale each other with “facts” they have gleaned from other drunken assholes who are presently in the head puking up lunch. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/115 "2008-11-05T00:03:37Z")
Joe (Sam) ,if he stays in front of the press long enough, will be on Dancing With the Stars". We may have to put up with Joe Six Leak for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/116 "2008-11-05T01:10:40Z")
[QUOTE=Merkwurdigliebe] He is against Obama because he would possibly pay more taxes (which he doesn’t pay) when he buys his boss’s business (which won’t happen now because he’s unemployed). [/QUOTE] What happened to his job? I can’t find anything to suggest he’s no longer working for the guy? ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/117 "2008-11-07T13:48:58Z")
I’m almost afraid to ask… has anyone heard from ol’ Joe since the election? ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/118 "2008-11-07T13:58:38Z")
ROFL - ok, time to answer my own question. [http://blog.entrepreneur.com/2008/11/joe-the-bummer-not.php](http://blog.entrepreneur.com/2008/11/joe-the-bummer-not.php) > [@](#): > > The Ohio handyman, who made headlines when he confronted Obama about a tax policy that Wurzelbacher argued is bad for small-business owners, has launched a website and preparing to unleash a book, Joe The Plumber - Fighting for the American Dream, due next month. LOL, that’ll be a well researched book. Here’s the website: > **[Secure Dreams | Business, Finance and Tips Blog](http://secureourdream.com/)** The LOLs keep on coming there. And folks, if you can’t get enough, has Joe got some good news for you: For only $14.95 per year, you can subscribe to “Joe the Blogger!” Trade in your hard in cash for the opportunity to see what’s on this numbskull’s mind once a month! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/119 "2008-11-07T14:04:30Z")
But wait, there’s more: [Joe the Plumber escapes speeding ticket due to 'negative …](http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/us-election/joe-the-plumber-escapes-speeding-ticket-due-to-negative-repercussions-14035388.html) Isn’t that ‘Joe the Plumber’? Cop gives him a warning San Jose Mercury News Joe the Plumber gets warning, not speeding ticket The Associated Press Joe the Plumber Excused Speeding Ticket Because of ‘Repercussions’ [ShortNews.com](http://ShortNews.com) [What’s Joe the Plumber do now?](http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/11/04/whats-joe-the-plumber-do-now/) Christian Science Monitor ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271/120 "2008-11-07T14:08:32Z")
> [@Slacker](#): > > LOL, that’ll be a well researched book. Here’s the website: > > [http://secureourdream.com/](http://secureourdream.com/) AAAARRRGH! My eyes! Not one, but FOUR lines of scrolling text on the homepage alone? Say it ain’t so, Joe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/joe-the-plumber-jumps-shark/468271.md?page=7)