McCain's mention of caring for a hardworking American such as “Joe the Plumber” is supposed to raise Joe to the level of a model citizen who the middle class can identify with. This is actually a powerful piece of rhetoric used on McCain's part to win some votes over. Just as Socrates used to say, "It is not difficult to praise Athenians in Athens,” it's not hard for McCain to praise people like Joe to the middle class. However, McCain's constant mentioning of “Joe” raises another interesting issue, where it's debatable whether McCain has made the topic of Joe a tired one for the audience and easily mockable or whether he brought more attention to the potential damaging effects of Obama's policies by having the media constantly referring to Joe's poor situation under Obama's presidency well after the debates. If the former is the effect on Americans then McCain's final debate has received its final nail in the coffin, but if the latter is the effect then McCain has succeeded in casting doubt on Obama's policies for a few more days.
Joe Shares his views and gets more media attention than expected thanks to McCain.
I have to say I don't think McCain did very well with "Joe." For one, there was too much surrounding "Joe" - actual name Sam - that was later revealed, albeit by the more liberal media groups. For example, Sam has a lot of unpaid taxes. Sam was plumbing without a proper plumber license in a district where the Union that requires the plumber license endorsed Obama. The biggest deal I heard being made was that Sam is related to Keating, of the Keating Five.
While these aren't really substantive issues - at least, in relation to what he raised with Obama, my point is this:
i) Those who were going to vote for Obama, look at the issues surrounding Joe, and feel vindicated.
ii) Those in the McCain camp don't see the point in raising those issues, as they're unrelated, and thus feel victorious.
iii) Those in the independent camp, which are the only ones worth talking about, would have either agreed with what Obama's plan is, or at least his handling the questions raised, or they would not have. As obvious as that sounds, I don't think this was something brought to light with "Joe the Plumber" - I think this has been just an attempt to add some punch to an otherwise dull week in political news: little could be said about the debates, the overall attitudes at rallies was the issue from the previous week. The economy was the weeks prior, and has become a stale story.
In short: McCain didn't succeed, Obama didn't succeed. I doubt many were swayed at all by this.
Comments
alishahnovin
2008-10-19 00:25:14
While these aren't really substantive issues - at least, in relation to what he raised with Obama, my point is this:
i) Those who were going to vote for Obama, look at the issues surrounding Joe, and feel vindicated.
ii) Those in the McCain camp don't see the point in raising those issues, as they're unrelated, and thus feel victorious.
iii) Those in the independent camp, which are the only ones worth talking about, would have either agreed with what Obama's plan is, or at least his handling the questions raised, or they would not have. As obvious as that sounds, I don't think this was something brought to light with "Joe the Plumber" - I think this has been just an attempt to add some punch to an otherwise dull week in political news: little could be said about the debates, the overall attitudes at rallies was the issue from the previous week. The economy was the weeks prior, and has become a stale story.
In short: McCain didn't succeed, Obama didn't succeed. I doubt many were swayed at all by this.