JTP: Helping or Hurting?

[toasty]

As of this moment, it would appear McCain views Joe the Plumber as his ticket to the White House -- he was the focal point of the debate, and he's evidently been the focus of McCain's stump speeches since then. Is he right?

While 68 percent of Ohio respondents said they recognized Joe the plumber, only 6 percent said that Joe's story will make them more likely to vote for McCain. An additional 4 percent said the tale made them more likely to vote for Obama; and 85 percent were not affected. In Missouri, where 80 percent had heard of the plumber, 8 percent said they were more likely to vote McCain, 3 percent more likely to vote Obama, and 86 percent said they were not affected by his story.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/10/obama_leads_in_7.html

Looks like it is a net positive, although not by much -- most don't give a fuck. Is this it? Invoking the story of a (1) successful (2) plumber (3) named Joe who turns out to be none of the above? Seriously, if this is truly McCain's grand strategy to make up a sizable deficit at the polls, he ought to be disqualified from participating in politics on general principle. Weak sauce.

[BabyMatty4Block]

Re: JTP: Helping or Hurting?

If a journalist could get to ask him point blank whether he'd pay less taxes under Obama's plan or McCain's and he was forced to answer truthfully, and if all that somehow dominated a 24 hour news cycle, it would be devestating for Grampy.

[shosh]

Re: JTP: Helping or Hurting?

As of this moment, it would appear McCain views Joe the Plumber as his ticket to the White House -- he was the focal point of the debate, and he's evidently been the focus of McCain's stump speeches since then. Is he right?

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/10/obama_leads_in_7.html

Looks like it is a net positive, although not by much -- most don't give a fuck. Is this it? Invoking the story of a (1) successful (2) plumber (3) named Joe who turns out to be none of the above? Seriously, if this is truly McCain's grand strategy to make up a sizable deficit at the polls, he ought to be disqualified from participating in politics on general principle. Weak sauce.

i still dont understand what the big deal is. the guy never said he makes 250k, he only asked a theoretical question (if he were to buy a business and make over 250k). obama said he would be ok with taking his money so that others can have a chance? thats the big issue there. so the issue is with obama's socialist ideas

[toasty]

Re: JTP: Helping or Hurting?

i still dont understand what the big deal is. the guy never said he makes 250k, he only asked a theoretical question (if he were to buy a business and make over 250k). obama said he would be ok with taking his money so that others can have a chance? thats the big issue there. so the issue is with obama's socialist ideas

Take a step outside of your partisan bubble for a moment and just try to be objective from a strategy standpoint. This is McCain's primary message right now. It is not working -- not me talking, look at the various polls on the issue. Just as with the Ayers thing, it would appear that he is going to continue to push it until it becomes a net negative for him.

Not smart.

[Miroslav]

Re: JTP: Helping or Hurting?

The Ayers thing already appears to be negative for him, according to a CNN polls:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

According to a new survey from CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation, nearly 6 in 10 Americans believe the Republican nominee has unfairly gone negative in his bid for the White House. That percentage is significantly higher than it was last September, when just 42 percent thought the Republican Presidential nominee was running an overly negative campaign, and is also considerably higher than the percentage of Americans who feel Obama has gone unfairly negative.

[toasty]

Re: JTP: Helping or Hurting?

^^whoops, just posted that same link in another thread.

[dylan.lindgren]

Re: JTP: Helping or Hurting?

I still don't get this whole thing about JTP. I mean, heres a similar situation. Bum on the street doesn't have an income (and therefore doesn't/shouldn't get taxed). Someone gives him $2 for some food, but he decides to buy a lottery ticket with it instead. He wins the jackpot, and is now a multi millionaire. He now qualifies being taxed at the highest bracket.

Does anyone think there is anything unfair about the above situation? I don't. It doesn't matter where you came from / what your life was like back when you were 'struggling', you're now a multimillionaire. Everyone struggles at some point. Higher taxes are just part of the game of being successful in life.

If JTP doesnt want to be taxed more, maybe he should think about NOT earning the $250,000 that would make him rich.

d.

[88Mariner]

Re: JTP: Helping or Hurting?

^ that....is ....the most idiotic statement i have read within the last three days. perhaps all week.

unless you're being sarcastic.

[dylan.lindgren]

Re: JTP: Helping or Hurting?

^ that....is ....the most idiotic statement i have read within the last three days. perhaps all week.

unless you're being sarcastic.

maybe im uninformed about this whole situation... enlighten me please

The last sentence of that post I was defintely being sarcastic however.

[88Mariner]

Re: JTP: Helping or Hurting?

gotcha. nm then.

[toasty]

Re: JTP: Helping or Hurting?

One thing that bears highlighting -- I think everyone knows this, but some of the backlash from the right (generally, not nec. on [ms]) makes me wonder:

If you are fortunate enough to make over $250K and get bumped into a higher tax bracket, that does not mean that all of your income is taxed at that rate. Only the amount in excess of $250K gets taxed at that rate.

Again, no one likes taxes, least of all me, but it is not as if you would be better off making $249,999 than $250,000 in terms of your net income under Obama's plan. There is still always going to be an incentive to make more money, period.