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'Muzzled' Biden's Halloween Present: A Press Avail

October 31, 2008 10:38 PM

ABC News' Matthew Jaffe reports:  Earlier this week, Republicans claimed that Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., had been “muzzled” by the Democratic campaign, noting that he had not held a full-fledged press availability with traveling reporters since a Sept. 7 flight to Montana. But Friday night, in a deserted Ohio eatery on Halloween, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee once again fielded questions from his press corps, refuting any accusations that he had been “muzzled.”

“If I’m muzzled, I don’t know, I’ve done 200 interviews, I’ve been doing, you know, half a dozen to a dozen satellite feeds everyday, I’m doing shows,” Biden said, touting the local interviews he conducts daily. “I mean, so no one said anything to me about it."

Perhaps it was the near-empty diner that left Biden with no alternative than answering questions from the media. When Biden walked into Kewpee, a small burger joint in Lima, Ohio, just after concluding his rally in this northwestern Buckeye State town, the senator found more reporters than diners.

“Everybody’s trick-or-treating,” he noted on this Halloween night.

Standing beside a large white sign that read, “No Loitering, Begging, Solicitation at any time,” Biden quickly gladhanded with the few diners before addressing the swarm of reporters. He cautioned that the upcoming election will be “closer than everybody thinks it is,” expressed hope that his friendship with rival Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., was still “intact,” and said that no matter what happens on Tuesday, “this is a mindset-changing election.”

While the Biden regularly rips the McCain campaign's “scurrilous attacks” on Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., tonight he hoped that his friendship with the Republican nominee was still strong.

“I don't know, I hope it's intact,” Biden said of the lawmakers’ relationship. “John and I haven't had a chance to speak.”

Noting that McCain’s latest ad was “positive,” Biden said he hopes, “John ends this campaign with his strength.”

“One of the things I've admired about John, and I've considered him, why I've considered him a friend, he does, he never gives up,” Biden said. “But so, and I just hope when it's over, win or lose, you walk up and you shake hands and say, 'John, we've got a lot of work to do.'”

"When this is over, win or lose, John and I are likely to be around, in one form or another, in one job or another," Biden predicted. "And I hope, uh, my hope is we can work together. Because folks, it sounds corny, you cannot do this stuff unless you start to get a little purple here. You can't make these big decisions. I mean, you need, you need cooperation, no matter how."

But before any post-election pleasantries are exchanged, Obama and Biden still have to defeat McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Nov. 4. That’s why, Biden said, the Democratic team is campaigning in such a wide array of states.

"We’re going everywhere: Montana, Arizona,” he said, to name a few. “I mean, we’re everywhere we can be because … this election is going to be a lot closer than everybody thinks it is."

"We feel good, we look good, but it’s not over yet,” he cautioned, noting that he is “a politician who has run scared every single election.”

“The fact of the matter is that I have, I have done relatively well in my own elections,” Biden said. “But I have never, never, before the polls close, said, ‘Man, this is in the bag.'”

The Delaware lawmaker expressed confidence in Democrats’ chances in Pennsylvania and Virginia, but concern about their options in Florida, North Carolina, Missouri and Ohio.

“I think it’s going to be close in Florida, it’s going to be close here, it’s going to be close in Missouri. I think it’s going to close. ... I don’t think it will be that close in Pennsylvania. I feel very good about Pennsylvania, maybe because I know the state so well,” said the Scranton-born Biden. “I’m not overconfident about it, but I feel, you know, real good there. I think it’s going to be close in North Carolina. You know, Virginia feels really good but, you know, it ain’t till it happens.”

But if the Democrats do claim the Oval Office and also reach the 60-seat threshold in the Senate?

"It would be good for the country," Biden said.

Whoever emerges victorious Tuesday night, Biden called this a “mindset-changing election,” noting the nation’s struggling economy and later, its damaged reputation due to foreign policy decisions such as the war in Iraq.

“We’re in a deep hole, man,” he said. “And the Republicans get it. The Republicans, they're going to be very chastened by this election, win or lose. I doubt whether you're going to see a lot of Republicans coming back talking about compassionate conservatism. I doubt whether you're going to find many Republicans in the United States House and Senate talking about how if you just let this stuff trickle down, and all you got to do is more of the same.”

“I mean, they don't use that phraseology, but I really think this is a mindset-changing election,” he added. “And so I think there is going to be a center that can generate some genuine, bipartisan consensus.”

Eventually, a few kids summoned up the courage to approach Biden as he addressed the press, bringing an end to the impromptu question-and-answer session. But maybe reporters will get another chance to pepper the senator Saturday, when Biden spends a second-straight day busing around the battleground Buckeye State. Ohio diner stops appear to be a favorite place for Biden to open up. The last time the veep nominee answered any questions at all from his traveling press corps was Oct. 14 across the state at an eatery in Lisbon.

October 31, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (232)

Palin Pushes Tax Creep Argument

October 31, 2008 8:48 PM

ABC News' Imtiyaz Delawala reports: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin charged that Sen. Barack Obama’s tax plan is “so phony that it's already starting to unravel,” continuing an argument made by her running mate Sen. John McCain this week that the Obama campaign’s level for who will receive tax cuts is creeping downward.

“Now, his whole tax plan, really, it is, it's so phony that it's already starting to unravel, and we're gonna call it the way that we see it,” Palin said at an afternoon rally in York, Pa. “It seems like every few days, we're getting a new definition now of middle class, according to their plan, whose taxes he says he won't raise on the middle class.”

Palin pointed to a comment made by Obama supporter Gov. Bill Richardson in a radio interview this morning, in which the New Mexico governor cited $120,000 as the income level where Americans would receive a tax cut under Obama’s plan.

"What Obama wants to do is he is basically looking at $120,000 and under among those that are in the middle class, and there is a tax cut for those," Richardson said.

Palin pounced on the remark, adding it to Sen. John McCain’s attack earlier this week after Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden cited $150,000 as the income level where Americans would receive a tax cut.

“And just this morning, Gov. Bill Richardson, a top surrogate for the Obama campaign, he who is working so hard to get Obama elected, Richardson, said Obama's tax plan would define middle class as $120,000 a year and under,” Palin said. “So now, we're down to less than half the original income level and, just give it a little more time, and Barack Obama will be back to raising taxes on folks earning $42,000 a year. We can't let this happen.”

A spokesperson for Richardson responded that he misspoke, meaning to say that those making less than $250,000 would not see a tax increase.

The Obama campaign added that neither Biden nor Richardson’s comment reflected a change in the maximum figure of who would receive tax cuts, maintaining that those making up to $200,000 would receive a tax cut, and only those over $250,000 would have their taxes raised.

“Gov. Richardson admitted that he simply misspoke, and yet Sen. McCain continues this dishonest, desperate political attack to distract voters from the fact that his low-road campaign is being rejected by voters across the country,” Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said, responding to comments Sen. McCain also made today referring to Richardson’s remark. “The truth is that Sen. Obama wants to give tax breaks to 95 percent of workers and their families, while Sen. McCain’s plan provides no tax relief for more than 100 million Americans.”

October 31, 2008 in Palin, Sarah | Permalink | User Comments (453)

McCain Now Wants Permanent Cap Gains Cut

October 31, 2008 4:35 PM

ABC News' Teddy Davis, Arnab Datta, and Rigel Anderson Report:

John McCain altered his tax plan Friday, saying for the first time that he would like to slash capital gains taxes in half on a permanent basis -- not just for the next two years. 

"Look," McCain told CNBC's Larry Kudlow, "I'm at 7.5 percent, I'd like to keep it permanently at 7.5 percent."

Watch it here.

Originally, McCain wanted to maintain the current 15 percent tax rate on long-term capital gains.

Seventeen days ago, as part of his "Pension and Family Security Plan," he proposed reducing the capital gains tax rate to 7.5 percent for the next two years.

McCain is now calling for permanently reducing the capital gains rate to 7.5 percent, according to McCain spokesman Brian Rogers.

The Arizona senator told CNBC that he wants to lower capital gains taxes and keep them low to encourage investment in difficult economic times.

An expert with the non-partisan Tax Policy Center says that "the bulk" of the tax benefits under McCain's proposal would flow to the wealthy.

"Two-thirds of the tax savings from cutting the capital gains rate in half would go to taxpayers with incomes above $1 million," said Roberton Williams of the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. "Ninety percent of the benefits would flow to Americans who make more than $200,000 per year."

The Obama campaign reacted to the change in McCain's tax plan by comparing it to the "fiscal games" of President Bush.

"John McCain's tax shift is just the latest proof that his economic plan represents four more years of George Bush's policies," Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan told ABC News. "George Bush played fiscal games to pretend that tax cuts were temporary, and then turned around to make them more expensive and permanent at the first opportunity."

"John McCain isn't even waiting for the election," he continued. "He is making his tax breaks more expensive with larger giveaways to the wealthy just weeks after first announcing the plan."

Asked on CNBC why he does not discuss investors more often on the campaign trail, McCain said that a lot of the people who come to his rallies are "frankly . . . people that are having trouble staying in their homes, keeping their jobs, etc."

McCain is hoping that the investor class, which he says includes the "Joe the Plumbers" of the world, will support him on Tuesday once they compare his plan to that of his Democratic rival.

"I hope we've connected with the investor class," said McCain. "But I also have to tell you, Larry, the people who want to invest are the Joe the Plumbers of this world who want to own their small business, they want to employ people, and they want to invest in their futures and in the stock market ..."

Barack Obama has called for raising the capital gains rate from 15 to 20 percent on individuals making $200,000 and couples making $250,000.

He also has called for eliminating capital gains taxes on start-ups and small businesses.

The non-partisan Tax Policy Center has not analyzed the revenue effect of either McCain's temporary or permanent cut in the capital gains rate. When McCain unveiled his temporary capital gains tax cut earlier this month, his campaign estimated that it would cost $10 billion.

The current 15 percent capital gains tax rate is paid by single individuals with taxable income of more than $32,550 per year or couples with taxable income of more than $65,100 per year. Individuals and couples below those thresholds pay no tax on their capital gains.

October 31, 2008 in McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans | Permalink | User Comments (171)

Biden: Come Tuesday, Obama's Critics Will Be Calling Him Commander-In-Chief

October 31, 2008 4:31 PM

ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe Reports: Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., blew into the Buckeye State Friday afternoon, four days before Election Day, blasting Republican attacks against Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and declaring that come Tuesday, Obama's critics will be calling him the next commander-in-chief.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we need to move past the politics of division and attack," the Democratic vice-presidential nominee told a crowd of 2000 in Kettering. "Over the past week, Republicans have gone way over the top in my view, calling Barack Obama every name in the book, and it probably will get worse in the next three and a half to four days."
"Well look, if you look at who he is, what he's done, and what he plans to do for this country, if you work for us in the closing days and choose hope over fear," Biden urged supporters, "after next Tuesday, the very critics he has now and the rest of America will be calling him something else - they will be calling him the 44th president of the United States of America, our commander in chief Barack Obama!"

As is his standard approach on the stump, the Delaware lawmaker linked Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to President Bush, encouraging voters that in four days from now they can change the course of the nation's future.

"An opportunity missed is not the same as an opportunity lost," Biden cautioned today in this crucial battleground state. "Not yet. Not if we recognize the urgency of the moment. Not if we have the courage to reject the course that has clearly failed. Not if we have the will to embrace the most enduring of all Americans beliefs – which is, we do not have to accept things as they are, we can change them and define our own destiny! And we will change them!"

Biden has been ripping McCain's agent of change "costume" for the past week and today, the Delaware lawmaker didn't miss his opportunity at this holiday rally.

"I know it's Halloween," the six-term senator said, "but John McCain dressed as an agent of change is a costume that just does not fit."

October 31, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (94)

Nostalgic, Hopeful Alum Biden Rallies Fellow Blue Hens

October 31, 2008 3:26 PM

ABC News' Matt Jaffe Reports: Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden is running with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., to seize back the Oval Office from Republican control, but lost in the race for the White House is the fact that Biden is also up for re-election as Delaware senator, a post he has held for 36 years.

Lest anyone in his home state forget, Biden Friday addressed home-state supporters at his alma mater, the University of Delaware, although the event was strictly on behalf of the Obama-Biden ticket as the Scranton-born, Wilmington-based Biden urged volunteers to bus north to Philadelphia to rally Keystone State voters.

"Today I return here 36 years after you first gave me the honor of serving you, and four days before our nation chooses the 44th President of the United States of America," Biden told the crowd of 5,700 gathered on the Newark college quad.

"But I come today with greater confidence and passion about the ability of this country to change and make things better," he said. "I believe we are literally on the cusp of a new era of American leadership in the 21st century. I believe that with every fiber in my being, for I believe, I believe this country is ready to make the sacrifices necessary, and to affect the change we need to restore the hope of our people and once again, once again become the beacon of light for the entire world."

"That’s our responsibility, that’s our possibility. That’s what we must do," charged the Delaware lawmaker. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would not have joined this ticket did I not believe Barack Obama will be the president this moment demands."

A nostalgic Biden recalled that he was on campus when John F. Kennedy addressed the nation about the Cuban missile crisis and later when the former president was assassinated. "During my years on campus here, some of the most transformative events of my generation took place," Biden told students.

Fellow Blue Hen Biden is expected to easily win re-election for his seventh Senate term representing Delaware, a post he would have to resign were he and Obama to capture the White House. The Democratic veep candidate has only mentioned his Senate campaign once while stumping for Obama, at the state’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Dover two weeks ago.

"Remember, folks, I am on the ballot,” Biden said October 13. "Don't be carried away with this vice-president stuff. I am on the ballot running for my seventh term, Nancy. So don't forget, don't stop at the top of that ticket, walk your way down. You can vote twice for the first time in your life for the same guy and it be legal."

Today was a Biden family affair on the campus quad, with Jill and Biden’s sister Valerie Biden Owens introducing him.

"I can't think of a better place for us to kick off the final sprint of this campaign than here at the University of Delaware," said Jill.

In his hopeful address, Biden noted the presence of another family member, his 91-year old mother Jean, "God love ya, Mom", he said.

"Fortunately for me, my mom lives with me," Biden stated. "And ladies and gentlemen, literally, literally, as I come down the driveway and stop to kiss her goodnight or to say hello in the morning, my mother, like your mothers and grandmothers, they believe, they believe in our possibilities because they know their generation weathered tougher times than we have seen and they emerged from each of the crises they faced stronger."

"Ladies and gentlemen, never ever ever in all of American history have the American people ever let their country down," he said. "Not once. And not now either."

October 31, 2008 in Biden, Joe | Permalink | User Comments (32)

McCain Going Back to New Hampshire to Begin Final Round of Campaigning

October 31, 2008 11:53 AM

ABC news’ Ron Claiborne Reports:  Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will kick off the final 24 hours of campaigning in New Hampshire Sunday night.

It sounds like this foray is more a reflection of McCain's superstitious nature or nostalgia than realistic expectation of winning. A University of New Hampshire-WMUR poll released yesterday showed Sen. Barack Obama up 54%-to 36%.

Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., carried the Granite State in 2004. New Hampshire was, of course, the state that boosted his 2000 campaign with an 18 point win in the primary, and re-ignited his 2008 campaign with a win in January.

It was in Portsmouth, N.H. the night before he defeated then Gov. George W. Bush in the 2000 primary, where he found the "lucky nickel" he carries in his pocket (sometimes it's a penny).
 
On Monday, McCain will make seven campaign stops, culminating in a rally that night in Arizona.

October 31, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (37)

Palin Fears Media Threaten Her First Amendment Rights

October 31, 2008 11:25 AM

ABC News' Steven Portnoy reports: In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by "attacks" from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.

Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks.  Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

However she feels about the way her story has been told in the press, Palin told WMAL she is not discouraged.

"It's sort of perplexing to me, because I'm a practical person and plainspoken also, but just cutting to the chase and calling things like I see them, just like most Americans.  But this has not left a bitter taste in my mouth, the bitter shots taken by the mainstream media and by some of the elitism there in Washington," Palin said.

"What this has left me with is a very energized and positive feeling about America, because there are enough Americans who are desiring the positive change that John McCain's gonna usher in." 

Plante then suggested that in her next sit-down interview, Palin should tap the reporter on the knee and ask, "So who you votin' for?"

Palin laughed and said, "Yeah, maybe that just would say it all."

"I'm gonna try that," she said.

October 31, 2008 in Palin, Sarah | Permalink | User Comments (815)

The Note: McCain Caught in Old Pull Between Center, Right

October 31, 2008 8:53 AM

ABC News' Rick Klein reports in Friday's Note:

So as October is set to pass without a surprise . . .

Sen. Barack Obama wants us to be scared of something in the rearview mirror . . .

While Sen. John McCain wants us to be scared of something coming into view through the front windshield . . .

Both candidates are a little bit scared when their running mates get behind the wheel. . .

Republicans are mildly haunted by a ghost whose name cannot be mentioned . . . 

Democrats are counting on certain ghosts in Florida . . .

And McCain is dealing with a set of familiar demons.

Read the rest of The Note -- and get all the latest on the 2008 election, Congress, the White House and the wide world of politics every day -- from Rick Klein by bookmarking this link.

As he and his running mate tax the tax issue, and hope for a boost from an action hero Friday, McCain is caught in the same sort of push-pull that has defined his political career.

Call it the Palin Paradox: McCain seems unable to effectively fire up the GOP base without turning off independents. He can’t win without both, not this year, not in this climate. And Palin, for all the energy she’s inspired, has pretty much literally caused more trouble than she’s worth to the ticket.

Does this sound like total confidence? "The enthusiasm level is incredibly high," McCain told ABC’s Robin Roberts in Ohio, on "Good Morning America" Friday. "It’s higher than I’ve ever seen it in any campaign I’ve ever been in. I’m not predicting -- well, I think, I’m confident that we’ll win, but this intensity level in the last several days has really been remarkable. And I’m enthusiastic."

"We’re going to fight it out on the economic grounds," McCain said.

If McCain really isn’t concerned about his running mate’s impact, well, he’s the one. "59 percent of voters surveyed said Ms. Palin was not prepared for the job, up nine percentage points since the beginning of the month," Michael Cooper and Dalia Sussman write in The New York Times. "And in a possible indication that the choice of Ms. Palin has hurt Mr. McCain’s image, voters said they had much more confidence in Mr. Obama to pick qualified people for his administration than they did in Mr. McCain." 

(It’s Obama 51, McCain 40 in the latest NYT/CBS poll.)

Said ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, on "Nightline" Thursday: "When you look at the bottom line, Joe Biden helped Barack Obama with all voters. He made people feel better about Barack Obama. Sarah Palin has hurt John McCain with the broader electorate. It's shown in poll after poll after poll."

Continue reading today's Note by clicking HERE.

ABC News' Hope Ditto contributed to this report.

October 31, 2008 in Ballotwatch, Biden, Joe, Bush, George W., Clinton, Bill, Clinton, Hillary, McCain, John, Obama, Barack, Palin, Sarah, Vote 2008: Democrats, Vote 2008: Republicans, Washington, White House | Permalink | User Comments (48)

Palin Turns Focus to National Security

October 30, 2008 10:15 PM

ABC News' Imtiyaz Delawala Reports: Following her running mate's lead, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin sought to turn the focus to national security on the campaign trail today, charging that Sen. Barack Obama is "incapable of meeting" the national security challenges facing the country.

"In five days, it's all gonna come down to a choice between two men -- Barack Obama and John McCain," Palin said at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania today. "And you know a man can be admirable in many ways, and quite promising and still not be quite ready for the most important and demanding job in the world. Rousing speeches can fill a stadium, but they cannot keep our country safe."

Palin dismissed Obama’s 30-minute ad buy that aired on seven television networks last night as a "warm and fuzzy, scripted infomercial" that ignored Iraq and Afghanistan.

"He didn’t talk much about the stakes in the wars that America is fighting and he didn’t explain why he voted to cut off funding for our troops over there in the war zone when they need our support," Palin said. "Instead, he wrapped his closing message in a warm and fuzzy, scripted infomercial intended to soften the focus in these closing days. He’s hoping your mind won’t wander to the real challenges of national security, challenges that he is incapable of meeting."

Palin had introduced the new line of argument after participating in a "National Security Roundtable" in Erie, PA with a panel of McCain campaign foreign policy advisors, including former CIA Director James Woolsey, former 9/11 Commission member John Lehman, and former Secretary of Homeland Security and Erie, Pennsylvania native Tom Ridge.

After the roundtable, Palin argued that domestic and foreign policy cannot be separated, citing energy policy as an example of an issue that has an impact both at home and abroad. Palin had spoken extensively about the Republican ticket’s plans on energy security in a policy speech in Toledo, OH yesterday.

"Gone are the days when we had placed domestic and foreign concerns in two distinct categories and just choose a president according to the priorities of the moment," Palin said. "On November 4th we need to elect a president who can handle the difficulties in the economy and the dangers of the world all at the same time."

Palin said she understood that most Americans are focused on the current "economic hard times" instead of foreign policy.

"When your most valuable assets -- from your home to your retirement plan -- seem at risk, it may be hard to spend much time worrying about great troubles in far-off places," Palin said. "It may be hard to spare much thought even for the most urgent matters of national security."

But she argued that the "dangers of the world do not disappear" and that the next president will still face foreign policy threats after the economic crisis has passed.

"The terrorist threat will be with us for many years, and millions of innocent lives are hanging in the balance," Palin said. "And in this time for choosing, the question is which man will protect us from Osama bin Laden, from Al Qaeda, from the prospects of a nuclear-armed Iran, and other grave threats in the world, which one understands that threat? That man is Senator John McCain."

Palin charged that a Democratic Congress would not protect the country, slamming comments made recently by Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, in which he called for a 25 percent cut in the defense budget.

"Let's not retreat from wars that are almost won," Palin said. "And let's not gut the defense budget, in a time of multiple conflicts and obvious dangers. And let's not entrust all the powers of the federal government to the one-party rule of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid."

Palin closed by arguing that only McCain knew the costs of war, and was ready to lead on the country’s security challenges as president.

"He is a man of unquestioned honor and personal and political courage, and of tested judgment – and the kind of judgment that avoids crisis instead of inviting it," Palin said. "In a time of great danger, we are fortunate to have a man of his caliber ready, deserving, to serve as commander in chief."

October 30, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (136)

Joe the Plumber Finally Endorses

October 30, 2008 6:41 PM

ABC David Wirght, Alyssa Litoff and Bret Hovell Report: No surprise, really, but Joe the Plumber has finally endorsed McCain.

At a rally in Mentor, OH, plumber Joe Wurzelbacher told McCain supporters: "People keep asking who I’m going to vote for and I keep saying it’s going to be between me and the button.

"But as far as my vote goes," he said, "It’s going to be for a real American. It’s going to be for a real American, John McCain."

Earlier in the day, Joe the Plumber spoke briefly at a rally in Sandusky but decidedly did not endorse McCain, suggesting that voters not listen to anyone else’s opinion but rather decide for themselves.

Joe the Plumber has become sort of a folk hero among McCainiacs since their candidate raised his name dozens of times in the final presidential debate. Wurzelbacher had challenged Barack Obama on his tax policies at an impromptu campaign stop near Toledo.

Tonight the crowd chanted "Joe the Plumber, Joe the Plumber, Joe the Plumber" as the bald unliscenced plumber took the stage.

McCain's praise of Wurzelbacher grows loftier by the day. Tonight the former Vietnam War hero, who survived 5 years in a POW camp, described him as "My role model, an American hero, Joe the Plumber."

October 30, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (178)