newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher has filed papers to run to represent Ohio's Ninth District in Congress. Does the name sound familiar? Probably not, but you may remember him as Joe the Plumber, the guy who called out presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008 about his tax plans for small businesses.

“Joe the Plumber” was then born. He eventually campaigned with Republican candidate John McCain in Ohio. But it turned out Joe wasn’t a licensed plumber.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, Joe wrote a 2008 book called “Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream,” criticizing John McCain. That was basically where his fifteen minutes ended.

USA Today reports that Wurzelbacher has filed a statement of Republican candidacy for Ohio's 9th Congressional District. Redistricting has put Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Marcy Kaptur against each other in a primary.

Wurzelbacher isn’t getting a lot of support from his peers in his chosen profession. Rick Terven, Sr. of The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada told Politico:

“‘Joe the Plumber’ does not represent the United Association nor our union in any way. This is someone who appears to care more about being a celebrity than helping working families.”

Wurzelbacher appeared on the Lawrence O’Donnell program on Thursday, but the line of questioning seemed to be about Republican candidate Herman Cain, with whom O’Donnell had clashed previously. The Huffington Post reports that O’Donnell asked Wurzelbacher about Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, and followed up with more Cain questions.

O'Donnell asked if Wurzelbacher had heard about Cain wanting to "abolish Social Security and Medicare,” and whether Wurzelbacher supported that.