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Thursday, March 8, 2012

2012 New Congressional Candidate Joe the Plumber Is Sick of Your Gotcha Questions Already

Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 11:06 AM

Whoo! Looks like Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher got totally screwed with some gotcha questions on CNN this morning. He's pretty pissed, according to Politico:

“Because I’m just — I’m sick of the gossip and drama. There’s real issues to work on. They want to take anything they disagree with me on to use it to twist it and use it to their gain and paint me in a in a light they want to paint me in,” he said. “Let’s … stop with the seventh grade shenanigans.”

Wow. They must have plastered him good. What did CNN ask him? Well, for starters, they asked him why he's qualified to run for Congress:

“What qualifies me?” Wurzelbacher said, laughing. “One, I’m an American citizen. Two, I’m very much involved in the process of what’s going on. I guess my question would be, what qualifies the current politicians who are killing our country, Republicans and Democrats alike?”
He added, “I’m sorry, it just seems like a silly question.”

In his defense, that's a toughie. I remember when 60 Minutes asked Barack Obama why he was qualified to run for president and he replied with 35 minutes of stony silence, followed by a 15-minute stuttered response and repeated claims that the question took him "totally off-guard." But then came the gotcha moment: CNN asked Joe the Plumber about an interview he gave back in 2009 stating that though he has gay friends, he would never let gay people, whom he has publicly called "queers," anywhere near his children:

“So this is TMZ, this isn’t CNN, is what you’re saying,” Wurzelbacher shot back...“Come on, you’re trying to do a ‘gotcha’ moment, it’s quite obvious.”

It's now become apparent that Sarah Palin is only the second-worst politician that John McCain unleashed on the world in 2008.

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Comments (20) RSS

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If a Coney Island fortune telling machine turns me into a 12-year-old kid and I end up in a 7th-grade classroom, I am totally going to use that "gotcha" strategy when the teacher calls me out for not doing my homework.

Thanks, Joe the Plumber.

Posted by seatackled on March 8, 2012 at 11:20 AM

Joe, you know what we told you about always finishing your statements one sentence early?

The first paragraph isn't entirely a terrible response.

Posted by TheMisanthrope on March 8, 2012 at 11:22 AM

Another idiot Teabagger. He won't answer qeustions because he knows he'll get all tongue tied showing how stupid he is. Let's see if people are dumb enough to fall for it. Oh, wait, it's Ohio. People there are dumb enough to fall for Boehner, they'll fall for anything.

Posted by Vince on March 8, 2012 at 11:34 AM

The beauty is that he gets tongue-tied and shows how stupid he is even while not answering the questions.

Posted by beef rallard on March 8, 2012 at 11:41 AM

The guy is a complete and utter screw-up. Has he bothered paying his taxes yet?

Posted by keshmeshi on March 8, 2012 at 11:41 AM

Joe is a little confused about the difference between "qualified" and "eligible."

Posted by Mr. J on March 8, 2012 at 11:51 AM

Since some of the tenents of modern conservatism are being a victim and never taking personal responsibility for your actions, I'd say his response was designed to appeal to his base.

Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay

on March 8, 2012 at 12:12 PM

Shouldn't the public have the right to know the details about the platform of anyone running for public office?

Posted by Grrr on March 8, 2012 at 12:13 PM

Every (non-Fox) question is a gotcha question to Tea Bag candidates.

Posted by judybrowni on March 8, 2012 at 12:19 PM

So somewhere in recent US history, a large swath of American ignoramuses has been made to feel as if their opinions/beliefs/prejudices HAVE REAL MERIT to them, and the rest of the country should pay attention... to the ignorant, the fearful, and the hateful... as if what they think and what they have to say is every bit as important and worthwhile as, oh, say, ANYBODY ELSE.

This is a grave and dangerous mistake...

THE RISE OF THE IMBECILES

Posted by merry on March 8, 2012 at 12:21 PM

Well running for congress, there really arnt any qualifications other than being an American citizen, getting some signatures, paying a fee and getting the majority of votes. Bit of a stupid question, but still funny to see him flip out over something trivial.

Posted by Kinison

on March 8, 2012 at 12:31 PM

@11: See #6

Posted by digitalwitch on March 8, 2012 at 12:57 PM

The ironic thing is that all of Sam-the-not-actually-licensed-plumber's fame can be traced back to the contrived "gotcha question" he asked Obama back in the 2008 campaign. Oh the hypocrisy!

Posted by slappy on March 8, 2012 at 1:03 PM

I too am very much involved in the process of what’s going on.

Posted by North American Speckled Fleebeedoo on March 8, 2012 at 1:17 PM

@12

I'm sorry, but even Will in Seattle is qualified to run for congress. Theres no list of requirements that says you need to be a high school graduate, a degree, skills or certificates. Just be a US Citizen, fill out a form and pay a fee, thats all anyone has to do. I'm pretty sure theres plenty of politicians who didnt go to college.

Her question should have been "What makes you the better opponent?", then watch him freak out with the follow up question about him never letting gays near his children, for which he is a dumbass for saying that.

Posted by Kinison

on March 8, 2012 at 1:18 PM

white working class / unemployed folks that used to be solidly democratic are now desperate republicans aligned with big business in an unholy alliance to weaken government, all in the name of freedom- freedom to be ignorant, bigoted, superstitious rednecks; and freedom of regulations seen as threatening to corporate profits.

next

Posted by aardvark on March 8, 2012 at 1:37 PM

Definition of Gotcha Question/Moment= Any question/moment where your real answer would make you look bad.

Posted by Root on March 8, 2012 at 1:54 PM

The press doesn't play hardball with politicians. Sarah Palin complained about getting (rec league slow-pitch) softball questions.

Joe the Plumber is getting T-ball questions and it pisses him off. It's pretty clear that the whole idea of being accountable is repellent to these people

Posted by dwightmoodyforgetsthings