Ich bin Joe the Plumber?

The new McCain campaign ad, I kid you not, features people identifying themselves as "Joe the Plumber."

Do they all have liens on their houses from unpaid back taxes and don't know the difference between profits and revenues?

McCain thinks Republicans who question Palin's credentials have an "elitist" attitude.

I guess "elitist attitude" is code for a functioning brain.

Seriously, the McCain "campaign" has reverted to Authoritarianism 101. "Don't ever, ever question the leadership." What could be more Bush-like?

And would these same standards apply if Obama wins? Will McCain say that people who question the president's wisdom are "elitist?"

Is that an actual ad?

"I'm Joe the Plumber"?

Are they kidding? They think this is going to work? What are they, drunk?

* The new McCain campaign ad, I kid you not, features people identifying themselves as "Joe the Plumber."

Mock this all you want. But as I said yesterday, Obama collecting endorsements from old line GOP intellectuals does not resonate with the low-information undecided, and certainly not with white working class males. If they did, would we have ever invaded Iraq and would Shrub have been elected as second time?

McCain's campaign may otherwise be a train wreck, but the GOP owns the tax issue as illustrated by Bill Gates Sr. story about the skycap in Chicago telling him he hoped the government does away with the inheritance tax.

Americans on the whole do not understand taxes, period.

Jeff II wrote: "McCain's campaign may otherwise be a train wreck, but the GOP owns the tax issue ..."

Perhaps not, according to a new Ipsos/McClatchy poll:

On taxes, for example, likely voters now prefer Obama over McCain by a margin of 8 percentage points. This is despite a concerted effort by McCain and running mate Sarah Palin to cast Obama as a tax-and-spend liberal who'd raise taxes on ordinary folks such as Joe the Plumber, an Ohio man whom McCain cited repeatedly in the last debate and since then in ads and on the campaign trail.

I saw that "Let Freedom Ring"-sponsored ad this morning and I'm afraid some people here in Ohio may be swayed by it. Trying to tie Obama to "the biggest financial crisis in U.S. history" is absurd but there's people in Ohio who are uninformed and/or dumb enough to believe it. Obama needs to get a response on the air pronto.

Obama just led a fantastic conference on the world economy and national security with Q&A--he sounded forceful, cogent and very presidential.

He made sure to address the recent ludicrous attacks that his policies are somehow "Socialist". Also addressed Biden's recent remarks re: a pending threat/crisis that will likely emerge.

It was played in full on MSNBC.

Perhaps not, according to a new Ipsos/McClatchy poll:

On taxes, for example, likely voters now prefer Obama over McCain by a margin of 8 percentage points. This is despite a concerted effort by McCain and running mate Sarah Palin to cast Obama as a tax-and-spend liberal who'd raise taxes on ordinary folks such as Joe the Plumber, an Ohio man whom McCain cited repeatedly in the last debate and since then in ads and on the campaign trail. Posted by: SecularAnimist

This poll is at least 24 hours old. The Joe the Plumber campaign began today, no?

Ich bin Joe the Plumber?

Joe the Plumber Macht Frei
Signage over GOP airport restroom stall

And Jeff II---given that "your plumbing friend" has a problem with paying his taxes, I would suggest that it is actually the "tax EVASION issue" that the GOP owns....

There's another new poll from Maine, this one from SUSA and it has Obama 54, McCain 39.

Saw the "I am Joe the Plumber" ad on TV a day or two ago, I nearly died laughing at the absurdity of it...

OT, but Rachel's podcasting now! Although for some reason iTunes only downloaded the first segment of her show last night, at least it's a start.

The new McCain campaign ad, I kid you not, features people identifying themselves as "Joe the Plumber."

Dalton Trumbo must be spinning in his grave.

We take you now to Smith, Smyth, and Smythe, Republican campaign consultants, on a soundstage in the Heartland.

"Okay, people, let's get it down. McCain spot. Take One. Sound. Speed. Action."

I am Spartacus -- no, sorry, wait!

"Let's try it again. McCain spot. Take Two."

I am the Maytag Repairman!

"Take Three."

I am Madge -- you're soaking in it!

"Do you need us to read you the line?"

No. I got it this time.

"McCain spot. Take Four."

I am the Allstate Man! Oh, crap. I'm sorry. Can we do this again?

"Take Five."

Where's the Beef?

"Nooooooooooo!"

* McCain thinks Republicans who question Palin's credentials have an "elitist" attitude.

Blast those damn elitists for assuming that someone must be qualified to be the president or VP.

Back in my mad, impetuous youth in North Carolina, there was a group called Let Freedom Ring that put up a weekly phone message of blindingly stupid right-wing idiocy. I used to call every Thursday (the day they changed the tape) to hear what new load of BovEx (bovine excrement) they had for me.
Could this be the same pack of wackos, re-emergent after all tihs time?

McCain thinks Republicans who question Palin's credentials have an "elitist" attitude.
That she took $150,000 for clothing and accessories (Roughly three times the median household income of her Real American supporters) from the RNC makes her even more like one of us.

RNC spends $150,000 on wardrobe for Palin and offspring. That sounds like "spreading the wealth around" to me. Do you have a problem with that? Real Americans are receiving the largesse from Palins passion for fashion. Capitalism at work. The employees of Saks and Neiman are getting paid for "serving" Sarah, are they not? Or do the SS do the shopping so she doesn't have to be touched by "real Americans", the great unwashed masses.
Socialism, indeed. What is that trickling down her leg? OOPS!

peace,
st john

Lakoff lays out the best analysis for the reason the taxes branding has worked. Republicans built a 30 year echo chamber and repeated the same message over and over. Those that haven't questioned their cultural imprinting are pretty much brainwashed to believe the right wing talkign points because the brain's pathways that register the "taxes" frame(s) have been fixed permanent and it takes a huge amount of restructuring to recalibrate people.

Start with the bailout and work from there. Republicans have been forced to forfeit family values and security, taxes can't be too far behind.

I still think this is a cover for racism and giving people an excuse to vote against their own interests once again. Also aren't there tax amendments on half the ballots this year? It's the new gay marriage.

As with all of their other ideas--their logo, their campaign rhetoric, and so on--the McCain campaign stole this one. It's a ripoff of Microsoft's "I'm a PC" campaign, which is designed to combat the negative images tied to the concept of PC by the "Mac and PC" commercials.

But what's their message? "I'm Joe the Plumber, and I'm getting a tax cut from Barack Obama?"

Love the token black guy next to all the dissapointed white people.. They're plumbers alright, in a leech field of bullshit!

The East Coast liberals are eltist, the media consists of elitists, now Republicans who support Obama are elitists. You have to figure, at some point, the term "elitist" should just be changed to "normal" or "rational".

Am I the only person who gets a scary-clown vibe from that ad on the left for The Grand Bargain?

It creeps me out...

Really? "I'm Joe the Plumber"?

Remember the end of Monty Python's _Life of Brian_? "I'm Brian." "No, I'm Brian." "I'm Brian, and so's my wife."

Comparatively speaking, if Sarah Palin is qualified for the vice presidency, I guarantee you I can usher in world peace in the blink of an eye.