Real Plumbers Endorse Obama

I reported yesterday that the McCain surrogate known as "Joe the Plumber" made his endorsement of McCain official, and hit the stump on behalf of the Arizona Senator.

Many on the right have whined about Joe the Plumber having his "life destroyed," but it looks to me like McCain and Joe are both getting so much mileage out of this, they've depressed the price of oil.

The problem that many people have with the Joe the Plumber phenomenon is that it allows McCain to take an unearned shortcut to the working man.

It turns out, though, that real plumbers not only endorse Obama, but they were the first in line to do so. Joe the Plumber is not a member of UA, the Plumber's Union (does that make him Samuel the Scab?), but the real plumbers who do belong to it proudly endorse Barack Obama. They also weren't too pleased with McCain fronting a faux pipesmith who looks out for people who make $250K.

"Last night John McCain made Joe the Plumber a household name. His manufactured outrage on behalf of Joe would be a lot more believable if his economic plan had anything to do with helping working people deal with the economic crisis," UA Assistant General President Steve Kelly said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

The UA union claims to be the first organization of any kind to endorse Obama in the presidential race. It did so Jan. 9, 2008.

Joe Wurzelbacher, the now-famous Toledo, Ohio plumber who sparred with Obama over taxes at a campaign event in his hometown, is not a UA member, a UA staffer told The Hill.

The UA staffer claimed that Wurzelbacher is a member of the Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC), a non-union trade group that has endorsed McCain.

See? It all makes sense now. So, it's Joe/Sam the anti-Union Guy Who D*#ks Around With Pipes For McCain.

Tommy Christopher co-hosts "Unusable Signal" , on BlogTalkRadio Tues - Thur at 9pm, and Fri, & Sat at 11pm. Click here for the Unusable Signal homepage.