No one could have anticipated that becoming the main spokesman for the McCain campaign would bring Joe the Plumber a lot of media attention. And it’s fair to compare him to people who ask questions during town hall meetings.
As the latest victim, Hughes joined a growing collateral damage club that includes Anita Esterday, the Iowa waitress tossed into the presidential campaign meat grinder after Hillary Clinton allegedly failed to tip her; Trina Bachtel, an Ohio woman whose death was campaign fodder for weeks after Clinton referred to her plight; Barack Obama’s aunt, Zeituni Onyango, outed for living in Boston after her worker’s visa expired the weekend before Election Day; and Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber.”
Wurzelbacher, some would argue, had it coming. He was only too glad to embrace the spotlight after a brief campaign trail encounter with Obama where he asked the future president a loaded question on taxes.
He was working an angle, to be sure, but Wurzelbacher couldn’t have anticipated the firestorm he would soon get caught up in.