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By now, anyone following the US presidential election knows that a single name is dominating the media coverage of the biggest political event of the world. Both ‘Joe the plumber’ and the US media are having a ball as the country on the verge of a historic presidential election has found a new craze. The frenzy started ever since the name ‘Joe –the plumber’ was repeated 13 times in the first ten minutes of the third and final presidential debate by Republican candidate Senator John McCain. The media, surely, is responsible for most of the ‘mighty Joe’ phenomena, as all the major news broadcasters and newspapers did not waste any time in jumping on the ‘Joe – the plumber’ juggernaut. For the uninitiated, Joe, an employee in a plumbing firm, asked Senator Obama whether he would be taxed more if he earned more by working hard.
The question now is what to make of this honeymoon between Joe the plumber and the US media? Is Joe really such a big deal that the whole American media seems to go on and on about him? Let’s find out the answer by finding out what some of the major media houses had to say about the man of the moment – Joe the plumber.
Fox network, arguably the biggest name in American news television, interviewed Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (that, by the way, is his full name). In the interview, he is asked how he could remain calm while facing a presidential candidate, that too, of Obama’s stature. Joe replied by saying that he was not intimidated by the situation at all, and also added that he was ‘disappointed’ by Obama’s replies, and scared by his plans. Remarkably, during the telephonic interview with Fox too, Joe sounded pretty calm, almost like someone used to such high profile interviews.
On the other hand, CNN senior political analyst David Gergen referred to him as Sam the non-plumber, indicating that his real first name is Samuel and highlighting that he doesn’t even have a plumbing license.
It was a different story though, when on 16th October, CNBC’s Joe Kernan said in an interview with Washington correspondent John Harwood that the Joe the plumber story would have been huge, (and even a “bombshell”) in any other year, but not this. Kernan said that voters were not concerned about the story as they accepted Senator Obama’s views regarding the cause and effect relation between the Bush government’s tax policies and the present financial crisis.
Obviously, Kernan was wrong and Joe made it to every major news channels and newspaper. After being shot into overnight fame, Joe has been interviewed by Katie Couric of CBS Evening News, and Diane Sawyer in Good Morning America.
Adding a final personal touch to the whole story about Joe the plumber and US media, Joe held a press conference at his home in Ohio on October 16th, the day after the debate that was attended by all the major news people.
Following the incredible media frenzy, debates about his name, profession and intentions sprung up everywhere. An online effort was made after the presidential debate, nominating Joe for the US Congress as a Republican in 2010. Going by the strength of the ‘mighty Joe phenomena’, the media frenzy surrounding this ambitious plumber is not going to get over soon. You surely are going to see and hear more of him in the US media.
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