Joe : McCain's plumber

As everyone already knows, the winner of the latest (and last) presidential debate for the 2008 race was none other than Joe the plumber. But what almost no one understands is that Joe the plumber might have been intentionally planted by the McCain campaign at the rally where Obama met him and where he rose to fame. Joe claimed to be a plumber who would be negatively affected by Obama's tax plan. He claimed he made over $250,000, and Obama's tax plan would punish hard working folk like him who worked really hard to get to where he is now. But after a little digging by the never-forgiving media, Joe's story fell apart completely. He does not in fact make $250,000, but something like $70,000 (a salary range that would benefit him under Obama's plan). Is Joe a masochist who will vote against his own interests? Hardly. Joe turns out to be from Alaska, not Ohio like he claimed. Alaska? That's right, none other than the great state of vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. It is hard not to think that Joe was planted at the rally by the McCain campaign, and that they were planning on using him for the debate all along. What is the coincidence that they Obama would fall for the bait? Not very coincidental if you consider that there may have been many Joes, Janes, and Jacks planted at the rally and that the plumber just happened to be chosen. It is absolutely not surprising that McCain would do this, but what is surprising is how little thought they put into the whole set-up. Joe's appeal crumbled as fast as the prospects for McCain to take the White House come Novemeber.