Joe The Plumber -- Quitting The GOP?
Is Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher really quitting the Republican Party? That's what a new Time article on the current sad state of the GOP says.
"Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, tells TIME he's so outraged by GOP overspending, he's quitting the party -- and he's the bull's-eye of its target audience," the article says.
Mr. The Plumber has been a figurehead among Republican activists since last October, when a chance encounter with Barack Obama and the active promotion by McCain campaign turned him into the face of blue-collar conservatism. If he's not willing to call himself a Republican, they're really in trouble.
But even here on spending, there's a catch when it comes to the ideological purity: "But he also said he wouldn't support any cuts in defense, Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid -- which, along with debt payments, would put more than two-thirds of the budget off limits."
Huh???
Josh
Matt
Eric
He wouldn't support cuts for Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid? How long before he's rebranded Joe the Socialist Plumber?
May 7, 2009 11:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
LOL! Those two are the most exensive! His 15 mintes have lasted way too long. Does anybody know if is book sold well or not?
May 7, 2009 12:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
During the campaign, this clown called social security a disgrace and a scam. Said he didn't need or want it.
Seems like he's just stupid and doesn't think before opening his pie hole.
May 7, 2009 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's a very simple explanation for this--the man is an idiot.
May 7, 2009 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now that he's left the GOP, Joe should start attending the Tour Formerly Known as Listening and heckling the speakers. What fun it would be to see him getting in, say, Eric Cantor's face the way he did Obama's.
May 7, 2009 12:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
The notion that this jackass non-entity Jeff Gannon look-alike would be a figurehead for anything whatsoever - and remain remain visible in the media beyond minute #16 - says more about the implosion of the Republican party than his defection from it.
May 7, 2009 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Let's not blame only the Republicans here. As a recently laid of worker (and, unlike Joe not eligible for the wingnut welfare circuit for some reason), I am a regular watcher of daytime cable news. The glee with which the talking hairdos on these programs discuss Joe is absolutely cringeworthy.
He's reached that level of celebrity where, even if the news drones are making fun of him, they still want him in the news regularly. He's like Paris Hilton or Octo-Mom.
May 7, 2009 11:53 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think we can blame the Republicans alone on this one. The media just covered the McCain campaign's decision to put this fool front and center of their parody of a Presidential campaign. The enduring story of Joe The Plumber is also a story of the GOP's continued embrace of this man. Don't blame the media, they have been covering an important story: the GOP's comic free fall from serious issues into caricatures of America and Americans. I just surprised Tito The Builder didn't receive national GOP prominence.
May 7, 2009 1:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, the campaign is over, last time I checked. Yet this yahoo gets featured mention on CNN at least once a week.
May 7, 2009 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The enduring story of Joe The Plumber is also a story of the GOP's continued embrace of this man."
Read much...
May 7, 2009 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, if you're quoting yourself, who am I to argue?
May 7, 2009 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey Joe may be a lot of things but he isn't a journalist/male prostitute/homosexual porn webmaster.
May 7, 2009 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah! There's no reason to call him a journalist! I mean, he may be a total dumbass but it's un-called for to deride him that much.
May 7, 2009 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
He just looks enough like one to play one on TV.
May 7, 2009 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
et tu, Joe?
May 7, 2009 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Who says we have to let him in?
May 7, 2009 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, the decision has already been made. Reid is clearing away several plum committee and subcommittee positions for him. They haven't settled on which race they will slip him in past the primary but I'm sure they'll find a really progressive district for him.
May 7, 2009 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Don't miss Obama's presser this morning, where he will invite him into the administration, and pledge undying support for him.
May 7, 2009 12:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh jesus, enough with that.
May 7, 2009 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm not Jesus.
May 8, 2009 2:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well gag me with a teabag
May 7, 2009 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
LMAO!
May 7, 2009 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
Typical. He wants the benefits of those "socialist" programs (Medicare, Medicaid, SS, etc.) but is not willing to pay for them. Screams about spending too much but when pushed, can't really find anything to significantly reduce spending on. I can't figure out why he wants to leave the GOP--sounds like he is already right where he belongs.
May 7, 2009 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink
Actually, Joe was never a member of the GOP. He never completed the license application.
May 7, 2009 11:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
And when will he apologize to Rush?
May 7, 2009 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now there's TWO Traitor Joes?
May 7, 2009 11:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Next he'll be growing a pony-tail.
May 7, 2009 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
I think that should read:
May 7, 2009 11:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Three words, Joe:
Get a job.
May 7, 2009 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Joe is joining the Nazi party. He said "it just feels like home."
May 7, 2009 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
The NAZI party requires too much exertion (what with the clubbing of Jews, gays and intellectuals) for a man of leisure like Joe. He should apply for the job of head executioner at the new Bush presidential library which, I understand, is sub-contracting all capital punishment from the state of Texas. Remember sunscreen for that shaved head Joe. That Texas sun is murder.
May 7, 2009 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Was he ever really in the GOP? Looked to me like he was a racist who didn't want to vote for a black guy, but couldn't really think up any reasons why so he tried to empathize with the Republicans. He doesn't know what he is.
I bet he apologizes to Rush before the end of the day.
May 7, 2009 11:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
The guy is the "bull's eye of (GOP's) target audience"?
Huh? A skinhead pretending to be a plumber? They are rebuilding with this bozo in mind?
Yeah, that's the ticket.
May 7, 2009 11:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Please refrain from calling Joe "blue collar". I grew up in a blue collar family. We have a balanced view of government as a social safety net, a protector of our civil liberties and a necessary force for crime prevention and national defense. This all has to be paid for. I was raised to pay in three ways: be an informed voter, serve in the military, honestly pay my taxes.
This does not mean we approve of wasteful spending in either the public or private sectors. And we do not support government intrusion into our private lives. Limited government and honest government are not goals held exclusively by conservatives or any other political group. But free government is a delusional concept.
May 7, 2009 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
HAHAH HAAAHAHAHAAHAA!!!!! HA AHA AHA AHAHAAA HHHHAAHAHAHA HHHHAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAA!!! HAHA AHHA HHAA HAHAHA!!!! Oh ... oh ... oh ...
HAHHAHAHA HAAHAHHAA HAHAHAHAHA!!!! HA AHA AHAH HAAHA!! Stop it! STOP IT!!
HAA AHAHA AHHAHAHAHH HAHAHA HAA!!! HHHHAAHAHAHA HHHHAAAAAA HAHAHAHA HHAA!!!! HA AHAHAHA AHHAAA HHAAAA AHAHAHA!!!!
May 7, 2009 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
(snort! wipe away laughing tears!)
Second.
Pass the popcorn & get me another beer. Damn, this is entertaining!
May 7, 2009 12:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Say it ain't so Joe. That shit is freakin' hilarious. Concise & to the point! Maybe you'll get a Peabody award.
May 7, 2009 10:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey, that's the way he rolls.
May 7, 2009 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
In other news, the sun is shining.
May 7, 2009 12:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, finally busted through in Maryland. About time.
May 7, 2009 2:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
If he still gets regular appearances on Fox, then he's "not a Republican" in the same way Bill O'Reilly is an "independent."
May 7, 2009 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why do I care? This guys 15 minutes were up about 6 months ago. Why are we still giving him airtime?
May 7, 2009 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because he's a symbol of where the GOP brand is right now. Swirling down the toilet.
Agreed, as an individual he's a probable racist redneck yahoo whose 15 minutes of fame should have only lasted 15 seconds.
But the GOP used him, tried to reinforce their brand with him... and right now they're even losing the yahoo demographic.
May 7, 2009 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
That will leave them with the "local yokel, hick, warmonger, homophobe, religous zealot, abstinence only, helicopter hunter, drill baby drill, enhanced torture lovin', die-hard bush-bozo" demo's. Which is about 65% of their 20%, plus or minus about three points.
May 7, 2009 10:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
The legend of bagger-douche continues
May 7, 2009 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
ROTFLMBAO!
May 7, 2009 12:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
May God bless and keep Joe the Plumber -- FAR AWAY FROM US!
May 7, 2009 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
So is he making a pledge here, that he won't use Medicare or Social Security benefits when he's old enough to qualify?
How can we trust anything he says? He's not Joe. He's not a plumber. And now he's not a repub?
May 7, 2009 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
I bet he's not bald either.
May 7, 2009 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nope, he's bald. If he weren't he'd grow a fuzz just to show the world he really does have hair.
He's defensively shaved.
May 8, 2009 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
This guy's 15-minutes were over about 250,000 minutes ago (give-or-take). Jumpin' Jesus! Can we please move along now?
May 7, 2009 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not until Olbermann and Maddow each devote at least seven minutes to him. Unless Olbermann has and update on Miss Califas cleavage.
May 7, 2009 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's phony too. But, it believes in opposite marriage.
May 7, 2009 10:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Joe's been smokin' his own Plumbers Crack if you ask me...
May 7, 2009 12:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
you guys are killin me with this stuff today
May 7, 2009 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
BAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
May 7, 2009 12:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah but the idiot just 'signed up' for some 700 city 'presentation' with rush and some other right wing person.
The guy does not even have the proper credentials to unclog your toilet.
May 7, 2009 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's a comment here about unclogging toilets & Rushy Limpbo, but I'm not gonna touch it...
May 7, 2009 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
hahahahaha
May 7, 2009 12:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
This excellent news!!!!! For Michael Steele!!!!!!!!
May 7, 2009 12:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually it's inhofe who thinks it's good news when one of their own defects. I hope someone has informed him about Joe.
May 7, 2009 2:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
This just in: Republican fact checkers have just announced that they have discovered that Joe the Plumber does not own a business, does not make anywhere near $250,000 a year, is not a plumber, and is named Samuel.
May 7, 2009 12:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why is TPM paying attention to this man? If we want tabloid "news," we can get it from the idiot box. Personally, I'm looking for something else when I visit this site.
May 7, 2009 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't always read blog comments, but when I do
I prefer Dis Missives.
May 7, 2009 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Be sure to tune in for next weeks Episode:
Sarah, realizing Joe is just acting out due to inattention, leaves breast feeding Bristol in charge of the family and her 'real racer man" in charge of the state and rushes down to reassure Joe that all those references to Tito the Builder
were expressions of love and not infidelity.
May 7, 2009 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Meanwhile, Aunt Martha, having taken a tramp in the woods is lying in a ditch by the side of the road
May 7, 2009 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why are you still giving this guy attention -- and for God's sake why did you make him the main story?
May 7, 2009 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I won't be satisfied until RedState covers this.
May 7, 2009 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Joe, leaving the party that made him a somebody? This just breaks my fart.
May 7, 2009 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
They just haven't created a party with the tag line of "Drill here, drill now, no gays, no surrender."
Oh, wait... they have?
And it's the party Samuel is leaving?
Riiiight...
May 7, 2009 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
His centerfold in "Plumbing and Mechanical" magazine has just been canceled.
May 7, 2009 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe the Dem establishment will support his run for Dem senator.
May 7, 2009 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
News Flash - He was just hired as Director of Communications for Arlen Specter.
May 7, 2009 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
WHO... GIVES... A... SHIT...?
Why don't we all collectively agree to stop treating unimportant people like they're important?
May 7, 2009 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Because sometimes it's just too much fun.
May 7, 2009 2:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yessssss!
May 7, 2009 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
My nominee for the most unaccomplished famous person in America.
May 7, 2009 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Like rats on a sinking ship. I guess Karl Rove's 1000-year Republican reign ain't working out the way he thought it would..
May 7, 2009 2:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe this is the start of a major new party.
The Plumbers?
The Plumber Party?
May 7, 2009 2:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whaddaya wanna bet the repubs cut off his dole - his retainer that is.
May 7, 2009 2:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah, so it's Joe the SOCIALIST plumber who was so concerned that his entreneurial capitalist spirit was being crushed by the Obama tax proposal.
Duly noted.
May 7, 2009 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
The teabaggers would no doubt be interested in joining the Plumber Party.
May 7, 2009 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
This article is yet more evidence as to why Joe should never have become a national news figure. Is he surprised to learn that Republicans are actually the ones who started the huge deficits? How do any of these people believe we can have Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and a robust defense while cutting taxes? Obviously, the Math curriculum needs work.
May 7, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now if we can just get him to leave the country.
Preferably to some backwater shithole without a water system. Then he could use his Non-plumber skills, on the non-existant sewer system, Never to be heard from again.
May 7, 2009 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
He needs to learn how to fix a toilet and to shut up.
Seriously, someone needs to hit the gong on this national embarassment.
May 7, 2009 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Man this guy just won't go away. Here is a post from another progressive blog that roasts good ol' plumber Joe.
It's hilarious.
http://progressnotcongress.org/blog/?p=687
May 7, 2009 6:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Um, can the Democrats decline to accept him, like declining a penalty in football? Please?
May 7, 2009 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Do ya mind if I call ya Joe? Well, say it ain't so, Joe. Wink.
May 7, 2009 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
He can always fall back on his Middle East Correspondent chops.
May 7, 2009 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Say it ain't so, Joe! If you are leaving the Republican Party, what hope do they have of continuing to delude the rest of the working class into thinking that their programs are beneficial?
May 7, 2009 8:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
The GOP was a business. That's why we got all those insane posts that appeared to be nothing but misleading Fox news reruns. It was a business and its sponsors have now pulled the plug. Last one out don't forget to call Obama "a terrorist" for the last time.
May 7, 2009 10:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe his dues weren't paid? An actual "Joe the Plumber" complained? He got a better offer from "The GOD". He was flushed? He read the tea leaves? He just said "No" more? He was voted out by a majority (I mean minority)? He was accused of leaking info? He got a "Queer" feeling?
Repubs also hate crack!
May 7, 2009 11:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, too much iq to be a gopthingy?
That's a tough one
May 8, 2009 12:14 AM | Reply | Permalink
Pathetic - just pitiful.
May 8, 2009 3:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Remember that rescuer of baby Jessica? He was famous for a while, and then there were arguments over who'd get credit for saving the baby, and he ended up a suicide. Joe might go the same route.
May 8, 2009 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink