Thursday, October 16, 2008

Joe the Plumber is a REGISTERED REPUBLICAN (UPDATE from OHIO AFL-CIO)

Look the man has been all over television this morning on the McCain talking points.

He is going line by line from taxes, schools and social security.

He is not, repeat, not an undecided voter.

After watching his interview on MSNBC, the man is a plant or faking to be undecided while spewing McCain talking points.

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Joe Wurzelbacher doesn't immediately turn up in the Ohio voter registration database, leading to some speculation last night that he's not registered to vote.

But the Toledo Blade reports that he appears to be a registered Republican, and a primary voter at that:

Linda Howe, executive director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, said a Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher, whose address and age match Joe the Plumber’s, registered in Lucas County on Sept. 10, 1992. He voted in his first primary on March 4, 2008, registering as a Republican.

Ms. Howe said that the name may be misspelled in the database.

(This is, incidentally, the reason people worry about purging the voter rolls. They're such a mess to begin with.)

Ben Smith, Politico

Look, I don't know if he is totally in the tank for McCain, but he is on the talking point mode, backing McCain policies and snidely bashing Obama. The push should be, "Joe the Plumber is a fraud, he is a registered republican carrying the water." Jed has up part of the video, the whole video below.

Lastly, the most important part of this is the misspelling of Joe's name and why NO VOTER REGISTRATION DATABASES SHOULD BE PURGED.
The Toledo Blade reported today that "Joe the Plumber's" name appears on Ohio voter registration rolls with a slight misspelling -- as Worzelbacher, not Wurzelbacher.

And that sort of data-entry error might be enough -- were Joe a new registrant -- to have him disqualified from voting in Ohio, Florida, or Wisconsin this year, depending on the outcome of ongoing litigation.

Purging voters or blocking their registration because of data errors is disenfranchisement by typo," said Michael Waldman, the executive director of the Brennan Center for Justice, a liberal legal group involved in litigation in those states. "Joe is a perfect example. If he were anew voter, he would be being challenged right now as not eligible to vote."

"Joe the Plumber is not committing voter fraud by having his name spelled differently on two different lists," he said.

Republicans have argued that there are safeguards against improper purges, and state officials say their lists are more accurate, and their purges more careful. They also note that voters whose registration is challenged can vote by provisional ballot. continue




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Joe the Plumber is on serious McCain talking points, here.

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Joe the Plumber, be careful what you wish for. Joe owes back taxes, docket here and more information here.
Questions about Joe being a "valid licensed plumber", here.
Believes Obama's plans are "socialist".
Joe Biden questions the "notion of Joe the Plumber".
'Joe the Plumber' says he has no plumbing license
Toledo Blade, 'Joe the plumber' isn't licensed or registered
Joe in the Spotlight
Plumbers Union, rip 'Joe the Plumber'

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Update [2008-10-16 18:28:16 by icebergslim]:

Is Joe related to Charles Keating? Of the scandalous Keating 5?

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Update [2008-10-16 13:54:13 by icebergslim]:

I have been getting email all morning but this should pique your interest, h/t to uniongal for sending me this:

This was to Tim Burga, AFL-CIO:

Good morning Mr. Burga

I know, you've probably gotten a ton of these inquiries, but I'm hoping, I'm a little different.

I run a union website, am a registered voter and native of Ohio (Ashtabula) and I'd like to know how to find out if Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacker is a member of a pipefitters, steamfitters or plumbers unions. How would I go about that for the Toledo area. I've gotten a couple of the locals numbers, should I just call them?

Thanks so much

--
XXXXXX
http://uniongal.blogspot.com

::

Mr. Burga's quote:

You can quote me as saying, "Joe is not a plumber he's a businessman. If we don't elect Barack Obama, the plumbing business and working families dreams will go down the drain."

::

Any questions, contact me. Totally legit. Oh, the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters already endorsed Obama.

cross posted @ Daily Kos

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