A Year In The Spotlight: A Slideshow Salute To Joe The Plumber's Greatest Achievements (VIDEO)

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First Posted: 10-12-09 07:24 AM   |   Updated: 10-12-09 11:20 AM

During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama met many of his fellow countrymen, as he made his case for the presidency hither and yon. But only one of the people he met would attempt to parlay that encounter into an entire career: Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the Plumber."

Joe emerged on the scene at a fortuitous time. The McCain campaign, which had been reduced to staging an escalating series of weird stunts to win media cycles in lieu of overcoming their own deficiencies, was in need of the latest, greatest gimmick. The media, desperate for something new to report on, was waiting for the geek show to spring a new act on the political landscape. Ol' Joe, as it turns out, was really concerned about wealth redistribution: specifically, who was going to redistribute some wealth into his pocket, for no good reason. I mean: He could have just maybe gone home, shut his pie hole, and given plumbing a try?

But that didn't happen. Instead, a pop-cultural figure was thrust upon an unsuspecting America. It's been a year to the day since Joe arrived on the scene, and let's face it: He has packed a lot of living into that year. Not much in the way of achievement, necessarily, but he's certainly built up an impressive resume of activity. And by "impressive," we mean, "enough moments out of which to make a slideshow."

Without further ado, here is the Year in Joe the Plumbery.

Joe The Plumber Meets Barack Obama
 
The date is October 12, 2008, and then-Senator Barack Obama is out and about in Ohio, doing some light campaigning. There, he would first encounter Joe the (kind of) Plumber. And while Jake Tapper of ABC News would give a pair of "amorous dogs" the lede, Joe wondered whether or not he'd have to pay more than his fair share of taxes.

Obama said his tax plan would work to Joe's advantage and help to "spread wealth around" on top of that. Naturally, the McCain campaign saw a chance to start promoting Obama's remarks as stealth socialism which sort of meant bringing Joe the Plumber along for the ride. Days later, Joe was all anyone wanted to talk about. And that's surprising, because those dogs were being really amorous.
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During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama met many of his fellow countrymen, as he made his case for the presidency hither and yon. But only one of the people he met would attempt to parlay that encount...
During the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama met many of his fellow countrymen, as he made his case for the presidency hither and yon. But only one of the people he met would attempt to parlay that encount...
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- jjgg5 I'm a Fan of jjgg5 27 fans permalink

Joe the Clown has been nothing but a complete embarrassment to Ohio for the past year.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:46 PM on 10/13/2009

The photo on this page of Joe/Samuel in that clown bow tie and tiara says it all.It sums up who is/isn't. Mercifully he ran out of gas before his 15 minutes of fame were up.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:50 PM on 10/13/2009
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SAM is not JOE

Plumber is not a plumbers assistsnt

A small businessman is not a plumbers assistant who works for the small businessman

The only positive here - if you consider it a positive - is that a charlatan can pretend to be a future small business owner, which he has never achieved.

Jon Mc China - you were duped.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 12:30 AM on 10/13/2009
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I still think Joe the Plumber was a plant sent in by the McCain campaign. He obviously couldn't afford to buy a $250,.000 business. He wasn't even a licensed plumber. even though he said in that conversation with Obama that he had been a plumber for 15 years. After all that time, he wasn't able to become licensed? How then, was he going to buy a plumbing business?

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 10:27 PM on 10/12/2009
- HST I'm a Fan of HST 48 fans permalink
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Ahhh yes, Joe the not plumber has turned into Joe the bummer for the doltish GOP.

Why do we waste time on him here? Cause we can. Oh yes, we can.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:45 PM on 10/12/2009
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What happened to his career in country music. I thought he was also writing a book.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:22 PM on 10/12/2009

No, he was working on reading a book...

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 08:23 PM on 10/12/2009
- reno1190 I'm a Fan of reno1190 16 fans permalink
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MY PET GOAT #2

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 06:43 AM on 10/13/2009
- cef911f1 I'm a Fan of cef911f1 15 fans permalink
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He did write a book. Didn't create much buzz. Not sure where it ranked.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 11:24 PM on 10/12/2009
- dmsdzinr I'm a Fan of dmsdzinr 19 fans permalink

JOE THE CLOWN! Now THAT is TRUTH in Politics!

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:45 PM on 10/12/2009
- Puffin16 I'm a Fan of Puffin16 8 fans permalink
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Yup, he pretty much sums up the result of the McCain-Palin campaign.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 03:34 PM on 10/12/2009
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I wonder if this guy even owns a pipe wrench?
He's clearly had one upside the head, but it
probably wasn't his.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:57 PM on 10/12/2009
- jws2346 I'm a Fan of jws2346 33 fans permalink

On second thought he is competing against Ronald Mc Donald, but he looks more like the Burger King advertisement in that pic.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:45 PM on 10/12/2009
- ReealOne I'm a Fan of ReealOne 82 fans permalink
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Joe the fake plumber finally embraces his life's purpose. Bless his heart, he did try to fight it though.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:31 PM on 10/12/2009
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JOE THE FAILURE !! The title that fits--- finally !!

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:28 PM on 10/12/2009
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Why did HP waste everyone's time with this stupid article about a useless human being.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 02:19 PM on 10/12/2009
- Billar I'm a Fan of Billar 6 fans permalink
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What a sad waste of ink and publicity.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:56 PM on 10/12/2009
- annie g I'm a Fan of annie g 28 fans permalink

What exactly is his job title because I would love to know what he puts on his tax return as his employer and job description?
I don't think "Joe the Plumber" is an actual job title considering he never had a plumbing license.

    Reply    Favorite    Flag as abusive Posted 01:26 PM on 10/12/2009
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