From The Road
October 23, 2008 8:17 AM

McCain Kicks Off "Joe The Plumber" Florida Tour

By
John Bentley
Topics
John McCain
(CBS)
From CBS News' John Bentley:

(DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.) – John McCain kicks off a bus tour through Florida today called the "'Joe the Plumber' Keep Your Wealth Bus Tour," although, interestingly, "Joe the Plumber" will not actually be involved. McCain has been using Joe as an example of how he believes Barack Obama's tax plans harm small businesses and could cause the economy to stagnate.

"As he told 'Joe the Plumber', he wants to quote 'spread the wealth around,'" McCain says often on the campaign trail.

"Sen. Obama believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs and opportunities for all Americans."

McCain is hoping Floridians can relate to the plumber from Ohio, as polls in Florida show he's locked in a tight contest with Obama here.

The tour opens with a rally in Ormond Beach, followed by a series of events in Altamonte Springs, Orlando, Plant City, and ending with another rally in Sarasota.

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by mrs_r October 23, 2008 10:43 PM EDT
Let McCain and Palin explain to Joe - in person - that what was spent on her wardrobe so far cost $23,500 MORE than his house.

The $150 thousand doesn''t include jewelry or accessories - just clothing. It doesn''t include the September bill of over $13k for her makeup artist. I guess the October bill hasn''t arrived yet. It doesn''t include her voice coach''s services either.

Completely grotesque, how every situation and every person is being manipulated.
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by mebwe October 23, 2008 5:35 PM EDT
The neocons decided a number of years ago that the strategy is to ignore facts and concentrate on image. Joe is no middle-class person if his income is over $250,00. He also isn''t a plumber and owes back taxes. I don''t have anything in common with him, and I don''t know anybody who does.
McCain is worried about Joe the CEO. McCain married his money -- no wonder he doesn''t understand that Joe the Plumber is rich by most people''s standards.
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by willywonker2 October 23, 2008 3:19 PM EDT
Didn''t Governor Palin restribute wealth when she combined pork barrel earmarks amounting to $1.75 for every dollar of taxes paid by Alaskans with profits from bi oil and redistributed $1,200 to every Alaska resident as a tax refund.

I guess she was FOR the redistribution of wealth before she was against it.
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by vectro-2009 October 23, 2008 2:54 PM EDT
A household in California earning over $250,000 a year is not middle class: Such households constitute just 5% of all households in the state. That''s not the middle class, that''s the elite. Median annual household income in California is just $60,000.

Source:
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-state=st&-context=st&-qr_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_S1901&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-tree_id=307&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=04000US06&-format=&-_lang=en
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by mattcat25 October 23, 2008 2:14 PM EDT
Republicans desire the votes from %u201Cjoe the plumber%u201D or jose the gardener, or sam six-pack, or hockey/soccer/karate/jazz dance and ballet moms%u2026but, only at election time. The rest of the time their doing the bidding for Large Corporations like Exxon, Halliburton, Pfizer, and Merrill Lynch.

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by samcal13 October 23, 2008 1:52 PM EDT
Taxing people with income over $250k will hit the middle class in California, where "low" income is defined as $40k. Secretaries routinely earn $100k/year here, salespeople in all fields make well over $100k and even run of the mill gardeners easily make $90k-100k (I can''t afford their services!). Obama''s plan to tax what he thinks are high income households is going to hit the middle class in California squarely in the face. Every family I know has to have 2 earners to just get by, and it is normal for a household bringing in $200k to just be able to pay their mortgage on a California closet. Obama is out of touch with those of us who pay our bills on time, borrow only as much as we can repay, and don''t believe it''s right to tax other people in the California middle class who are marginally above us on the foodchain to bring up our own lot in life. We are not a socialist nation.
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by uselogic1 October 23, 2008 1:46 PM EDT
the Whole Joe the Plumber thing is ridiculous. Leave it to McCain to develop a campaign around a person who doesn''t have a plumber''s license and would likely keep more of his income under Obama''s tax plan. Meanwhile, McCain has no better strategy than to keep stoking people''s fears about Obama the colored man. What a dissapointment you''ve been,McCain. But I put faith in the collective intelligence and logic of our nation and am confident good will prevail over bad and Obama will win.
Reply to this comment
by uselogic1 October 23, 2008 1:44 PM EDT
the Whole Joe the Plumber thing is ridiculous. Leave it to McCain to develop a campaign around a person who doesn''t have a plumber''s license and would likely keep more of his income under Obama''s tax plan. Meanwhile, McCain has no better strategy than to keep stoking people''s fears about Obama the colored man. What a dissapointment you''ve been,McCain. But I put faith in the collective intelligence and logic of our nation and am confident good will prevail over bad and Obama will win.
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by pjc27 October 23, 2008 1:34 PM EDT
In our family - K the mechanic, P the reporter, C the student, J the retired nurse, B the working nurse, J the engineer and A the computer specialist are all voting for Obama.
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by rucluless October 23, 2008 1:25 PM EDT
In addition to Joe the Plumber being quite well off, how about instead of bringing home values up, get t hem back to where they were 5 years ago, so maybe they can be affordable to the middle class?
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