Joe Wurzelbacher
No roundup of politically minded building pros would be complete without mention of Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher. He rose to prominence during the 2008 presidential election when he asked Barack Obama, then the Democratic nominee, about his small business tax policy. Obama’s response included the statement, “When you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody,” which was seized upon by Obama’s rival, John McCain. Since Wurzelbacher expressed that he was interested in purchasing a small plumbing business, he was given the moniker “Joe the Plumber” by the McCain–Palin campaign, which took him to several appearances as a symbol of hard-working middle-class Americans.
In 2012, Wurzelbacher ran on the Republican ticket to represent Ohio’s 9th congressional
district in the House of Representatives, but lost to the Democratic incumbent. Savvy political
watchers aren’t counting him out just yet–he has 375,000 followers on his
Facebook page and continues to make appearances as a motivational speaker. How about Joe the Plumber for
President in 2020?
