Joe The Plumber Interviewed By Tufts Student Paper

A freshman at Tufts University talked to Joe The Plumber about the election and his future political prospects.

On his role in the election:

Q: How did you feel when you became such an important factor in the final presidential debate and the campaign as a whole?

A: Initially, I thought it was completely absurd. I was glad that I could be used as a focal point to possibly bandy around some ideas, and maybe people would open their eyes to Obama's socialist ideology. However, there were so many important issues to be discussed other than the "Joe the Plumber, Joe the Plumber." [The debate] was absolutely ridiculous. After a while, I actually got tired of it. Not so much the "Joe the Plumber" I am tired of, but there are other issues that need to be discussed.

On John McCain And Sarah Palin:

Q: You had the opportunity to campaign with Sen. John McCain in different areas of Ohio. What is your opinion with regards to Mr. McCain?

A: This is a tough question. [The McCain campaign] is trying to throw Sarah Palin under the bus. They are trying to allude to the fact that she is the reason that John McCain might have lost this election. That does not sit well with me. John McCain has not come out and said that Sarah Palin is an honorable woman and has not protected her. In terms of my opinion, he has my respect for being a war hero, and I told him that personally, but you got to get along to go along or go along to get along. Washington has been ingrained with that mentality.

Q: As a Republican, do you feel that Gov. Sarah Palin was the right vice-presidential selection?

A: Honestly, I think she shines too much. I think vice president no, president definitely. She has moral values. She has a record of change that ... John McCain had supposedly ... Sarah was actually too big of a personality, too big of a person to be vice president.

On his own political future:

Q: There has been a tremendous amount of speculation about your political future. Web sites such as joewurzelbacher2010.com and others envision you challenging Rep. Marcy Kaptur [D-Ohio] for her seat in the House. Is there any truth to these rumors?

A: No. Marcy Kaptur is so entrenched in this area, I do not believe [anyone] could actually win against her. People around here for whatever reason love her to death. No one actually has ever come close in how many years to take her seat. Also, if I were to run for Congress, it [would be] a very big sacrifice. I would not take it lightly or as a sense of entitlement as some congressmen do. I would actually represent the people. I would be out there day to day, talking to people and finding out what is going on. I would really work hard.

The problem with that is I would not go along to get along in Congress. I would be loud, but I would be one voice among 435 people. I can do far more with this watchdog group that I am creating ... the watchdog group is going to be essentially for the American people, Democrats or Republicans; I do not care. The Web site will remind the people in Washington that they are there to serve us ...

Read the whole thing.

Comments

[JerseyDee]

PLEASE!! Just let the door kick him on the a$$ on the way out. ENOUGH ALREADY!

[Meggie]

The only things I want to hear from Joe the Plumber is who is really writing his book, has he paid his fair share of taxes yet or will we have to garnishee his book money and has he paid his medical bills yet because he's right about one thing, I sure don't want to have to do it!

[Margij]

Stupid answers

[RogerOThornhill]

Oh. dear. God.
He's had his 15:01 already! Enough!
Let him go back to working illegally and beating people up at the bar after work.

[SolarPowerGuy]

"[The McCain campaign] is trying to throw Sarah Palin under the bus."

Hold her hand tight then, Mr. Joe. Hold her hand REAL tight.

Meanwhile -- does anyone besides me think that Joe the Plumber comes across as a bit too -- well, articulate? The vocabulary is what you would expect from a college-educated person. Admittedly, some college grads do work as plumbers. But I have to consider some other possibilities here:

1) The interviewer from Tufts is overzealous, and is putting words in Joe the Plumber's mouth.

2) As suggested when Joe the Plumber first appeared on the scene, there may be more to the guy than the McCain campaign would have us believe. How can some random blue-colloar dude be so prepared to talk politics? Was he a plant for the McCain campaign? Have things gotten out of hand as he switches over from his assigned role as a foil for Obama, to self-promotion? I recall an article which briefly mentioned that he has connections in the Ohio GOP.

[Meggie]

He's previously been a regular fixture on right wing talk shows which made me think he was a plant to begin with. He can have enough education and still be unable to cope and work with other people. As I think his life shows - unable to hold a job, unable to stay married, unable to show up at campaign events when scheduled because he had his own things going on....

[Dr Independents Day]

I hear what you're saying, but don't stereotype all blue collar guys. My father who is a pretty smart guy, but is not college educated (he was born in 1948 to a poor family, grew up in a trailer house and then went off to the Vietnam War, etc just never could go to college and probably wasn't college material) is pretty articulate and well informed on politics. He reads the papers, watches the news, and watches Keith Olbermann religiously. Of course that is probably why he is a Democrat!

[Dr Independents Day]

Not all working class guys are inarticulate. I used to work in a factory making semi-truck springs, and now I have a M.D.,Ph.D.­, and Master's degree.

[wakeup804]

Palin and Wurluburger 2012. What a joke. Why don't we just ignore these fools. Huffington Post, please stop reporting on these two. Surely there is something ,somewhere news worthy that could fill this space.

[coldcanuckinwhite]

I didn't read the article either. Get him out of here. Who is he anyway and why is he being kept around?

[GlenRast]

He's a great reminder of the kind of people the GOP draws. Loud Stupid Weenies

[babaann]

So, who at huffpost is recruiting Loud Stupid Weenies? They might go away if we would ignore them.

[isee61]

I didn't even bother to read the article, I just saw the headline.

Why in the world would anyone in their right mind even be interviewing this knuckle head, let alone print what he had to say.

What a looooooooo­oooooooooo­oooser!!!

he is way past his 15 minutes.

[AlaskanToo]

Ditto. I just logged on to say to HuffPo, I don't read or pay heed to anything 'Joe the Plumber' regurgitates.

[GlenRast]

What they need is a comics page to put stuff like this on. You can go there for a laugh but it's separate from real news.

[Ish11]

I saw a rethug one holding a sign that said: "GET A BRAIN MORANS!" I think it was to Joe and Sarah. lol

[keepemhonest]

I hope Joe & Sarah run for the top spot in 2012. Wouldn't that be awesome .... if THEY got the GOP nod & won the primary? I always have loved a good laugh

[jaf]

This makes me wonder about plummeting admissions standards at Tufts. The clowns @ Fox are, at least, well paid for engaging in this level of kabuki.

[CostaMesaJoe]

This man needs to find a career where he would fit like a glove.
Wrestling in town halls.

[PlainBread]

This is what's happening if unqualified person running for presidency (McCain), then picked up an unqualified running mate (Palin), then chose an unqualified sample to represent middle class (Joe the Plumber).

Then when McCain got beaten, both Palin and Joe the Plumber don't care about him since these unqualified people are such opportunists who believe that McCain is a big jumping stone that they already stepped on. Now they're trying to have another jump but they still don't realize they don't have anymore stone (person) to step on.

[JT16682]

When can we really be liberated from JOE THE PLUNGER?

[bmwracer]

Previous comment was deleted... Trying again:

Joe the Irrelevant.

Take your book, website, and political insight/aspirations and insert them as far as they can go into any of your orifices.

[topkatnc]

I SINCERELY SECOND THAT!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!

[wakeup804]

What's he gonna tell us in the book? How not to pay your taxes, how to work without a license? How to run out on your hospital bill, how to get over on the system and make millions? No wonder the rest of the world thinks we are insane.