McCain Blames Obama For Joe-Splosion

From John McCain's prepared remarks in Miami today:

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.

Ok, what? Joe "the plumber" Wurzelbacher had already gotten some national attention (from Drudge, Fox News, the New York Post and conservative groups) after his tax confrontation with Obama last weekend. But McCain was the one who raised Joe at Wednesday's debate and went on to mention him more than 20 times over the course of the evening (without getting the go-ahead from Joe to do that, by the way). Yesterday McCain told a Pennsylvania audience, "The real winner last night was Joe the plumber. Joe's the man." And then his campaign released a web ad touting Joe. The McCain camp's Joe push was so strong that Sarah Palin told fundraiser attendees in North Carolina that she had "begged" not to have to talk about him, but eventually gave in.

Clearly, though, the McCain campaign failed to vet Joe Wurzelbacher before they made him this week's centerpiece. So they didn't know about his tax lien, his lack of a plumbing license, or the spelling error in his voter registration that's hauntingly similar to what the Ohio GOP is describing as voter fraud. Or, most saliently, the fact that he would actually be eligible for a tax cut under Obama's plan. But those revelations aren't "attacks" on Joe as much as they are "facts about him." (Facts I'm sure Joe wishes the entire internet-reading universe did not now know...but facts nonetheless.)

I guess McCain could blame the media and our incessant curiosity about people he injects into the campaign. Although, McCain isn't new to the public eye. He should know how this stuff works by now. You mention someone two dozen times in a single, hugely-watched public appearance? We'll look into that person's background. Love it or hate it, it's what we do. (And at this point in the campaign, we're so hungry for a fresh face we might just eat someone's nose.)

No doubt, this situation pretty much stinks for Joe, who was in no position to handle the media onslaught he's received. But McCain's blaming the Obama camp for the microscope Joe's been under these past 48 hours seems more than a little far-fetched.

-- Evie Stone

4:28 PM ET | 10-17-2008 | permalink

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