For John and Barack it's all about Joe
Updated on 16 October 2008
How the final presidential debate made a celebrity out of 'Joe the Plumber'.
At last, a debate that really WAS a debate. Two rivals - asked direct and pointed questions, allowed to communicate directly with each other.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this last confrontation at New York's Hofstra University produced some of the most relevant and revealing comments of the campaign.
And more surprisingly, made a celebrity out of 'Joe the plumber' who somehow became the symbol of 'ordinary America' that McCain and Obama are both so desperate to reach.
So what's the state of play - with less than three weeks now left to go? According to the press, and their instant reaction polls - Obama 'won' the night for the third time running: once again, cool and calm trumps mean and snarky.
But this was undoubtedly one of the best performances yet by John McCain - with glimpses of all those decades of political experience.
But this was undoubtedly one of the best performances yet by John McCain - with glimpses of all those decades of political experience.
Stung by the Democratic attempt to link him indelibly to the Bush administration, he struck back:
"Senator Obama, I am not President Bush," he said. "If you wanted to run against President Bush you should have run four years ago."
Obama kept his cool, telling his rival what he was proposing was "essentially eight more years of the same thing".
And he challenged Obama to give details of times he had voted against Democratic leaders, listing all the times he'd stood up against Republican orthodoxy - exactly what voters who like his streak of independence were waiting to hear.
Not just lipservice to being a maverick - but proof.
Then what may turn out to be either an inspired move, or one that just ends up missing the mark - good old Joe the plumber. Joe the plumber: or the man in Ohio whose confrontation over Obama's plans to discontinue the Bush tax break for those earning over $250,000 a year got caught on videotape.
Not quite the Joe Sixpack of Palin-speak - after all, not that many ordinary Americans make more than a quarter of a mill - but nonetheless, a symbol of middle class voters which suddenly became the leitmotif of this debate.
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Would Obama's plans make Joe pay more taxes? Is 'spreading the wealth' class warfare, or essential to help those worst hit by the economic downturn get back on their feet?
How else to pay for these multi-billion dollar recovery plans?
It is the fundamental ideological divide between the these two men - and how refreshing for a televised debate to reveal it quite so starkly.
And here's what the factcheckers have had to say - according to the New York Times: "According to a calculation by the independent, non-partisan Tax Policy Center, fewer than 700,000 taxpayers would have to pay higher taxes under Mr. Obama's plan.
But even some of these are not really small business owners in the traditional sense. Instead, they include lawyers, accountants and investors in real estate, all of them with income over $250,000 a year.
So are there "millions more like Joe the plumber," as Mr. McCain contended? Probably not. Mr Obama may well have been correct when he stated that "98 percent of small businesses make less than $250,000."
As for the nation's most famous small business guy - Joe Wurzelbacher himself - it took reporters a little time to track him down (and isn't that always the way with plumbers?) - he declared the experience was 'surreal'.
He's already become the darling of right wing political pundits galore - and he's described Obama's 'spread the wealth' remark as "kinda socialist".
But it's going to get way more surreal for Joe in the next few days - a new metaphor to frame the election debate? Joe, it's gonna be all about you.
At least the whole issue was about actual policies - rather than whose campaign has been the most negative.
McCain was perhaps goaded into raising the William Ayers issue - along with alleged voter registration troubles by a group called Acorn.
And he was pretty upset about Congressman John Lewis associating him and Palin with segregationist times.
But Obama didn't rise to the taunts - avoiding an opportunity to defend himself, maybe, but sticking to that laconic style that seems to be persuading swing voters he can be trusted to be President.
So what's the verdict - after the final 90 minutes of good old fashioned heated debate? No knock out blows - and probably nothing to change the direction of either man's campaign.
The pundits - if they have any influence - think this one went Obama's way.
As for Joe the plumber - he wasn't much impressed with Obama's tax plans.
"I didn't think much of it the first time I heard it" he said - whereas McCain had "got it right as far as I go."
He wouldn't say which way he'd be voting, though - and it remains to be seen whether McCain has pulled off a trick that'll persuade millions of people that Obama wants to spend their money.
Instant reaction polls might hint otherwise: CBS found 53 per cent of viewers thought Obama had won - CNN's poll gave Obama 58 per cent.
And Frank Luntz, polling in Florida for Fox, revealed that none of his focus group had decided to support the Democrat before the debate, but afterwards - he'd won over more than half.
In essence then, both men did well last night - but this was an occasion which did more to consolidate than to transform - more to confirm perceptions of who the candidates are and what they stand for than shift any momentum.
At this stage - Obama's still ahead. But don't write off John McCain's chances just yet. He's come back from far worse than this.
