Joe the Plumber: Is He For Real?

Is it my imagination, or does the whole Joe the Plumber phenomenon from last night's debate seem awfully rehearsed? I heard a clip of Joe the Plumber on the radio this morning and it suddenly dawned on me: he could be a Republican planted to do what he did, not just a spontaneous passer-by like he is being portrayed. I'm just asking. It's awfully convenient, isn't it, that he happens to have a tax problem and can't buy the plumbing business he wants to buy, and somehow that is Obama's fault, right when McCain's campaign has obviously decided to focus on that issue, and that he confronted Obama right before the debate. Very conveniently timed. He might really be a plumber but he might also be a Republican strategy. I know Obama is ahead and shouldn't involve himself in this petty garbage that the McCain campaign keeps throwing out because they have nothing better, but I think the Democrats should quietly investigate what his real connections are. If you had to pick a "Joe Six-Pack" from central casting, you couldn't do a better job.

And Our Man Joe, the quintessential angry white man, conveniently played the race card so the Republican candidate doesn't have to soil his honorable hands: he said Obama is "almost as good as Sammy Davis, Jr." Ha ha ha, very funny. Not. I think they're getting worried that we might be forgetting Obama is black so they thought we needed a reminder, if John Lewis and the Reverend Wright didn't do the trick, along with Fox News's clever little article about Colin Powell dancing hip-hop in London somehow being a sign that Colin is going for Obama.

I haven't heard anyone else suggest that Joe the Plumber could be FAKE but I got a powerful gut feeling that he could be, just from hearing his lines on the radio. John McCain somehow had this guy's full name on the tip of his tongue and spent a good part of the debate talking directly to him, as strategists and pundits had recommended the candidates do in general terms (along the lines of "he should talk directly to the white guy who is worried about his job," etc.)

Things that make you go "hmmmmmm..."

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