“Joe The Plumber’s name isn’t Joe, and he’s not officially a plumber,” wrote Marc Ambinder at theatlantic.com. (Joe’s given first name is Samuel). “Is ‘Joe The Plumber’ A Plumber? That’s Debatable,” an Associated Press story asserted. (Joe doesn’t have a commercial plumber’s license). ABC’s Diane Sawyer asked Joe, “To get straight here, you’re not taking home $250,000 now, am I right?” Joe admitted, “Not even close.”
That’s the point, of course. Joe’s not wealthy; not even close. But he aspires to be, and believes he can be if the government will leave him alone and allow him to buy the plumbing business he works for. He fears that Obama’s “change” -- his redistribution of wealth -- would hurt him. In its race to destroy the messenger, the mainstream media seems to have missed that entirely.
Or consider the furor over Colin Powell’s recent endorsement of President-designate Obama.
It’s clear to anyone who’s read Bob Woodward’s series of semi-fictional books about the Bush administration that Powell broke ranks with Bush long ago. (Woodward hasn’t actually written this sentence, but here’s what an internet “random sentence generator” could come up with if programmed to ape Woodward’s style: “Powell realized everyone else in the room was a stark-raving idiot. But what could he do? Surrounded by incompetence, from Bush through Cheney, Rumsfeld, Snow, etc., he had to muddle through, doing the best he could to steer the country on to the right path...”)
Yet the press coverage of Powell’s announcement made it seem as if Powell’s decision was groundbreaking. In fact, the only thing notable was that some of Obama’s vehement left-wing supporters decided to hold their noses and their tongues. A spokesman for MoveOn.org told CNN it didn’t like the Powell endorsement, but would remain silent so it wouldn’t “disturb” Obama’s march to victory.
With President Bush’s approval ratings well under 25 percent, it’s beyond doubt that people want “something different.” Just what kind of change they want, though, is still a matter of debate. We’ll soon find out.