WASHINGTON — Joe the Plumber has tried his hand at a
variety of professions since his launch to fame during the 2008
presidential election.
He’s written a book,
traveled to Israel as a war correspondent, delivered motivational
speeches and appeared in commercials reminding consumers about the
conversion from analog TV to digital.
Now, the former plumber, Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher, is running for Congress.
Wurzelbacher
filed paperwork last week with the Federal Election Commission, stating
his intention to run as a Republican candidate in Ohio’s 9th
Congressional District.
That district was already
poised for an interesting primary campaign after the Republican state
legislature redrew district boundaries, pitting two longtime Democrats
against one another.
The new boundaries — drawn
after Ohio lost two of its 18 House seats due to slow population
growth—split the city of Toledo between three districts. The 9th
District, which has been represented by Democrat Marcy Kaptur since
1983, will extend east from Toledo all the way to Cleveland.
The
move pushed Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich — who represents the Cleveland
suburbs in what is currently the 10th District — into a single district,
forcing a primary battle between the two Democrats.
In
the Republican primary, Wurzelbacher will face Cuyahoga County
Republican Chairman Rob Frost and technology executive Tom Guarente.
Wurzelbacher
first hit the national spotlight in the final weeks of the 2008
presidential campaign, when he challenged then-Sen. Barack Obama at a
campaign event about Obama’s plan to raise taxes on those who earn more
than $250,000 a year.
“I’m getting ready to buy a
company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year,” Wurzelbacher
said. “Your new tax plan’s going to tax me more, isn’t it?”
Obama’s
response — “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for
everybody” — became an instant sound byte for his opponents. (Three
years later, Obama is still trying for that tax increase, but
Wurzelbacher has shelved his plans to buy the plumbing business.)
The
exchange was picked up by Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, who
dubbed Wurzelbacher “Joe the Plumber” and referred to him repeatedly
for the rest of the campaign.
The media scrutiny
that comes with the spotlight quickly revealed that Wurzelbacher was
actually an unlicensed plumber with unpaid back taxes.
At
the time, Wurzelbacher called himself a “flash in the pan … a novelty,”
and predicted that his newfound fame would, “be fun for a couple days,
and then it’s going to go away.”
———
©2011 Tribune Co.
Visit Tribune Co. at www.latimes.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
