On Joe The Plumber and Obama...

I'm sure Obama must have wished that he hadn't taken the impromptu question from Joe The Plumber, the average-joe who asked him a seemingly innocent question about taxes.

Not that I disagree with Obama completely. In a way, government has a role to play to even out wealth distribution, and to provide some social safety net, among its populace. Obama's response was forthcoming enough, in a sense that he acknowledged he would tax the higher income bracelet in order to "spread the wealth."

What I find highly distasteful is how Joe The Plumber was treated by main media (including NPR), that as one NPR's listener response I heard on radio the other day, that this average guy would need to get briefed on the latest US tax codes and to keep his financial house in order, before he should go open his mouth and ask a presidential candidate on the proposed policy change that would impact him. I find it equally distasteful that the Obama camp and main media would choose to attack this guy, for not agreeing 110% with Obama and to go with the flow. For what Obama had accused McCain in doing (ie. sidestepping policy discussions and choosing to go personal), he's doing the exact same thing for an average voter who disagrees with him.

For what's worth, the follow-up news conference by Joe The Plumber is surprisingly down-to-earth. Here is a guy who is opinionated and is not afraid to speak up for what's on his mind, while acknowledging he doesn't know what he doesn't know. Over half of those questions that the reporters asked in this news conference were completely beside the point (ie. not pertinent to the tax question that he had asked Obama). No wonder average Americans are having less of it from main media.

McCain is supposed to be behind in poll numbers right now, and there are only 2 more weeks to go. If it had been the Bill Clinton's famous campaign "it's the economy, stupid" that puts Clinton into the White House, and if McCain is to come from behind to win on November 4th, it would have been Joe The Plumber. I would also highly doubt that to be due to the so-called Bradley Effect, should Obama lose. The society has advanced and become much more tolerant and open since then, and those who blame Obama's loss to lingering race issue are but fools. It's all policy, policy, policy (or the lack thereof).