De Pasquale’s Dozen with Joe the Plumber

During the 2008 election, then-Senator Barack Obama made a campaign stop in Ohio. While shaking hands and talking to residents, one man stepped forward and asked him about his tax policy for small businesses. Sen. Obama’s response included the telling phrase "when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody."

Not only did the question remind Americans of the Left’s philosophy and goals, but it shed light on what Democrats and the media would do to private citizens who disagree with their mission to elect Obama. Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher was among the first to feel the wrath of the campaign and Obama-friendly media. They dug into his background, work history and personal life. The director of Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services ordered one of her employees to use state computers to research Wurzelbacher. Additionally, a former contractor for the Association of the Ohio Chiefs of Police was also found to be looking up confidential information on Wurzelbacher. A law barring this invasion of privacy using state resources was later passed and signed by the Ohio governor.

As the 2012 election heats up, the Obama campaign is using the same playbook against supporters of Mitt Romney. The Obama campaign posted the names of eight Romney donors, including business owners Frank VanderSloot and Thomas O’Malley, and said they had "less-than-reputable records.” As with Wurzelbacher, the Obama campaign’s intent is not just to win an election, but punish conservatives and their livelihood. In an interview on the “The O’Reilly Factor,” VanderSloot said that he’s lost hundreds of customers because of false accusations perpetuated by the Obama campaign.

Thankfully, similar tactics used against Wurzelbacher have not silenced him. The Left regularly underestimates how their strong-arm tactics only increase the commitment of conservative activists. In October 2011, Wurzelbacher announced his campaign for Ohio’s 9th congressional seat. He won the Republican primary in March and now faces Rep. Marcy Kaptur in the general election. Kaptur has been in Congress for nearly 30 years and was once named “Most Valuable Member” by the left-wing magazine, The Nation. Anyone this entrenched in D.C. will be hard to remove, but if anyone is up to the job it’s Joe the Plumber.

Each week the De Pasquale's Dozen asks political figures and free market-minded writers and entertainers to take a break from politics and talk about their pop culture obsessions.

Recommended

Keystone XL Pipeline Is Back Once Trump Retakes Office, But There's a Problem Matt Vespa

If California Was a Swing State, This Would Never Be Tolerated Matt Vespa

1. If there were a television channel that only showed one movie over and over, what movie should it be?

2. What’s one of your favorite movie quotes?

3. In A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm McDowell is strapped in with his eyes propped open and forced to watch images until he was "cured." If you could give President Obama, Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Leader Harry Reid the "Clockwork Orange treatment," what movie would you make them watch?

4. Who would be on the perfect "Red Eye" panel?

5. What's your current “guilty pleasure” television show?

6. What pop culture souvenir do you own that people would be surprised to learn that you cherish?

7. What was the first rock concert you ever attended and where did you sit and who went with you?

8. What books are on your summer reading list?

9. What was the best gift you ever got as a child?
My dad coming into my life.

10. What important advice do you remember your mother or father giving you? Did you take it?

11. If Democrats and Republicans had theme songs for 2012 what would they be?

12. Tell me about the moment you decided to enter the political arena.