He's Baaack!

Joe that is. And it seems not everyone is pleased. I resembled Ruffini's remarks some days back. You never know, they could pay off in some interesting ways.

I think Patrick has it wrong though. While I may have missed it, I'm unaware of Joe having been on with Limbaugh, Levin or Hannity to any degree since the campaign. That would make him a poster boy for conservatism. As it is he looks more like the mascot for PJ-TV.

It could have been like any other of the hundreds of pieces I had seen in the last few months touting Joe's latest exploits. Joe the Plumber -- a one or two day campaign gimmick -- has become a poster boy for conservatism. To say that the McCain campaign milked Joe Wurzelbacher's story and then some would be the understatement of the century. Now, conservatives are making him a foreign war correspondent and he is sure to be feted at CPAC -- so I'm sure to get a certain amount of grief for what I'm writing now.

If you want to get a sense of how unserious and ungrounded most Americans think the Republican Party is, look no further than how conservatives elevate Joe the Plumber as a spokesman. The movement has become so gimmick-driven that Wurzelbacher will be a conservative hero long after people have forgotten what his legitimate policy beef with Obama was.

Comments

[mark l.]

This is a big problem for the gop.

They find new people to bitch, but not qualifed to play anything close to a major role.

Clue for gop: stop organizing around policy, and try community outreach. Joe's a plumber? Add a couple of carpenters and a few electricians and they can help build/repair houses, under gop pay and sponsorship. Think of it as a conservative 'habitat for humanity'. Suddenly Joe would get a chance to talk about something he knows, plumbing, and keep him from being forced to the front on policy.

Joe's going to be at a political rally? He'd be better off going to a non-political charity event-walkthons and sh*t like that, using his popularity to help charitable causes.

It is essential that the gop seek to tap people who are willing to help other americans and set them up with those in need. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of religious groups that can function as an independent force for good, faster and far more efficently than any govt agency. The message for the gop should be that while they lack leadership in Washington, they still can accomplish things, directly, thru the people, as opposed to exclusively achieving in the fishbowl of legistlation.

[Mark Turner]

Mark l -

Have you suggested that to the RNC? Give them a call, send them a note. They might listen.

[mark l.]

"They might listen."

I'm not that optimistic.

I still think that conservatism, or more directly, the conservatives I know, are the most mangnanimous people I know, with both their money and their time.

Conservatism needs to be a social movement outside of politics. It isn't like the gop would have to invent the idea of helping individuals-there are people doing it everyday-if they could encorporate them, who knows?

The democrats have gone out of their way to tie themsleves to civil rights and are living, successfully, off its legacy laced in myth. Now their outreach consists of voter drives in poor urban areas, which are already politcally owned by democrats.

If the gop could stand at event to raise money for some cause, other than their reelection, they could throw down a gauntlet of 'deeds, not words' to the democrats. What's the worst that could happen? the dems actually try and outdo the gop?

The point of the exercise is to emphasize that the good in this country is not dependent upon a govt bill, but within the character of it's people. Offer an alternative to taxes, or better still, reveal the thousands on instances where it is happening now.

[MG]

The gop is lost and out in the woods. They let acorn get away with b & e. Not one of those gutless people would stand up to them. PATHETIC.

[seekeronos]

Have to agree with MG here.

The GOP is a lost cause, doomed at best to be a regional party, unless the Dems do such a horrid job that they make themselves equally toxic.

But with the DC representation bill now back up on the table, which would grant DC a representative and possibly two senators down the line... the Dems will be that much closer to achieving their goal of making the USA into a single-party state much like Red China is.

Conservatism, especial *paleo-conservatism* will become as much of a strange fringe movement that attracts gadflies as the Libertarian Party does.

Until and unless the Paleocons, the Libertarians, and Independent voters organize themselves to combat the evils of the socialists who have stolen the Democratic Party... we are doomed to become a failed socialist state at best, and a collection of broken, secessionist republics at worst.

[lonetown]

People are hungry for someone authentic because they are tired of the same old assholes that think they know better than anyone else but fuck up everything they touch.

[templar knight]

"...unless the Dems do such a horrid job that they make themselves equally toxic".

You boys are too pessimistic. The Democrats are well...and I mean very well, on their way to destroying our economy, and losing out for all time. They will now have to take the credit for 30-40% interest rates, or in the alternative, 25% per year inflation rates, either of which will hit this economy sometime in early 2010. There will be a meltdown.

[Hank]

JTP's attraction is that he is not one of the so-called elite,
isn't going to stick to the liberal "narrative" and represents the average person.
For libs, these are 3 strikes.
For most folks, it sometimes seems like a breath of fresh air.

Personally, I think JTP represents a threat to the MSM and others
and therefore has to be destroyed. Same with Palin.

[Jumbo]

Joe the Plumber? Really? That's who you have chosen to lead you out of the woods? Man oh man are you folks in deeeep trouble. And to you Templar: let's be very clear here, ok? We are at the place we are at BECAUSE of republican policies - not dems. Even a brainwashed GOP watercarrier knows this. What did you expect the new POTUS to do? Simply follow the very same policies which resulted in our system falling apart? Then to say obama will ruin the economy? You fool, the economy IS ALREADY ruined - BECAUSE OF GOP rule the last 8-13 years. Just how underwater are you? Its your country too, ya know? It's your prosperity too. it's your future too. Do you want your kids listening and worshiping Limbaugh or a smart person? Take your choice, make your own bed.

[seekeronos]

"--- They will now have to take the credit for 30-40% interest rates, or in the alternative, 25% per year inflation rates, either of which will hit this economy sometime in early 2010. There will be a meltdown. ---"

TK, I would not be surprised at all if it turned out to be quite a bit of both - stagflation: 20%+ inflation along with interest rates in the high 20%'s

Watch as Soejima's prediction of the Japanese Yen trading at 30JPY to a dollar, and the Red Chinese unhook their Yuan Renminbi from its float against the dollar.

Gold, silver, and Yen or Yuan denominated assets might be worth looking at to preserve wealth, aside from hard commodities like water filtration systems, dried food storage, heritage seed stocks, and unmarked ammo.

And for Dumbo:

The blame belongs to both parties, but especially the Dems. Who did you think it was who conjured up the CRA that lead to banks being forced by law to overextend credit to uncreditworthy people?

Granted, that snowballed as greedier people re-marketed those lousy mortgages into AAA rated securities that surprisingly failed to pay off.

And we won't even poke the true elephant in the room: risky credit default swaps in excess of $65B USD - easily 5x our GDP.

[scott]

Does Government “know how” to run a business?
I read the article and had to post something... Do we think that Government is the answer? This is not about Democrats vs. Republicans. This is about free markets and capitalism. Tell me one government run program that makes money and works for the long term. Freddie Mac/ Fannie Mae? Please tell me. Social Security is on the brink of bankruptcy, a social welfare program instituted back during the depression. If you read the original goals and objectives of the program, it was a short-term plan and yet today we are still trying to figure how to run it, fix it or try something else. We must be taking too many of the designer drugs to be thinking straight. Government fix is a quick/knee jerk response to the masses that get most of their information from reality TV.
Make the rich pay for it… that seems like a good answer… It is only the top 5% of the population. Think about you make over $150,000 dollars and the government has just spent 1.7 trillion dollars. That family or person will not get one benefit of that money. Think about this you will get an average of $13 dollars back from the reduce payroll tax bill. The states just voted on increasing fuel tax by another .20 to .30 cents because they are broke. The net effect is not an increase but a decrease in your take home pay. WOW… that makes a lot of sense because they got it all and we have nothing. Americans love to have a villain or something to aim their anger /frustration towards. The real answer lies in all of us. Get a job live within your means, teach values and have a strong belief system. That is a very simple statement but it requires people to have confidence in themselves. I am tired of hearing people looking for handouts. This is just another handout that eventually will be consider entitlement.
Wake up and spend the time to talk to the people. Stop talking at them. There are three sides to the story. The one we read/hear or talk about in the public. The second is the other person’s opinion or thought and the third is the truth. It is our responsibility to take action and ownership for our mistakes. Do not sit down or stand on a pulpit and talk about it. All you are doing is stirring the pot. In business, it is the responsibility of the workers and management to come up with solutions to the problems. It is not their right just to complain. BTW… Government is not a business it is here to protect the people and provide a stable environment. Re read Adam Smiths book. Get back to the basics or we will have another Boston Tea party just in a different form. Trust me people are being pushed to the max with listening to how GOVERNEMNT is here to save us….
This proposal for the rich to be “patriotic” and pay for the other 95% of the people is not the answer. BTW… in most of the companies I call on today they are slashing pay between 3-10%, dropping contributions to 401K plans and reducing payments to medical plans. Businesses know what to do to survive. Does the Government?

[Afterimage]

LMFAO, Have the Republicans still not figured out why they lost all their power in the Government. Please PLEASE, stop trying to blame others and take a look at yourselves, as an Independent voter I find the balance of power to be our greatest strength, whenever it shifts too far in one direction we end up in trouble. Please wake up and smell the coffee.