John McCain today kept on Joe the Plumber, showing he still hopes to gain some traction from the man a day after the world's news media exposed him as an unlicensed labourer who doesn't pay his taxes and would in fact likely benefit under Obama's tax plan.
In Arlington, Virginia today, McCain said Obama had "attacked" Joe Wurzelbacher, and implied Wurzelbacher was suffering media and political scrutiny merely because he asked Obama a tough question. But it's McCain who transformed Wurzelbacher from an anonymous Toledo worker into a campaign gimmick.
McCain said:
We had a good debate this week. You may have noticed -- there was a lot of talk about Senator Obama's tax increases and Joe the Plumber. Last weekend, Senator Obama showed up in Joe's driveway to ask for his vote, and Joe asked Senator Obama a tough question. I'm glad he did; I think Senator Obama could use a few more tough questions.
The response from Senator Obama and his campaign yesterday was to attack Joe. People are digging through his personal life and he has TV crews camped out in front of his house. He didn't ask for Senator Obama to come to his house. He wasn't recruited or prompted by our campaign. He just asked a question. And Americans ought to be able to ask Senator Obama tough questions without being smeared and targeted with political attacks.
McCain's complaint stretches the truth to the point of factual inaccuracy. After all, it was the McCain campaign who turned Wurzelbacher into campaign mascot in Wednesday's debate, though they did not "recruit or prompt" his question for Obama. Had McCain not used Wurzelbacher to criticise Obama's tax plan, the news media would never have taken the first interest in him. Obama meets hundreds of Americans every day.
Does McCain think Americans cannot remember a debate two nights ago?
Meanwhile, initial polling from Gallup shows Joe the Plumber hasn't helped McCain turn the election around. The latest tracking poll has Obama ahead 50% to 43% percent, and "shows little significant change as a result of the debate at this point."
