I think Obama and the "mainstream" media are making a big mistake by going after Joe the Plumber. I know it's reflexive and they just can't help destroying people who expose and decry their Marxist redistribution schemes, but I think Joe the Plumber will get a lot of sympathy from Obama's must-win voting blocs.
William Graham Sumner wrote, regarding FDR's New Deal:
They are always under the dominion of the superstition of government, and forgetting that a government produces nothing at all, they leave out of sight the first fact to be remembered in all social discussion — that the state cannot get a cent for any man without taking it from some other man, and this latter must be a man who has produced and saved it. This latter is the Forgotten Man.
I don't think people will forget Joe the Plumber for a while.
The MSM is too busy to look into Obama's past, but they're investigating Joe the Plumber. Good question by Allahpundit about Joe's lack of a plumbing license:
Exit question: The law’s the law and it is, after all, his own fault for not having the papers he needs. If, say, an illegal alien had asked McCain a tough question and some righty media source responded by bringing his status to light, would the left feel the same way?
(HT: Tennessee Guerrilla Women, Jonah Goldberg, and Instapundit.)
I'm skeptical about the claim that Joe doesn't have a needed license. I have some firsthand knowledge in that area, and it's a bit more complicated than getting a single license called "Plumber". As I recall Texas law on the subject, the tough license basically involved mechanical engineering knowledge, and it was mostly focused on correctly designing and installing fire sprinkler systems in new buildings. You can see why that specific plumbing job would be much more important than fishing your kid's rubber ducky out of the toilet, and so it would involve a different license.
I don't know the details of Ohio plumbing law, but my BS-o-meter hits the red zone when I read about Joe not having "a" plumbing license, because I'm nearly certain that there is not just one plumbing license in Ohio. And I would expect that most plumbing work can be done under the supervision of someone who has the necessary license. At least in Texas, plumbing licenses are like liquor licenses: They're not so much a certification of an individual's knowledge; they're more valuable assets that a company can lose if it does shoddy work.
What's is amazing to me is how quickly the leftist illuminati media is attacking Joe. They did the samething to Palin when she was announced as the VP canidate. If they would take 1/10 of that energy and do the same to Obama, this election would not even be close. I feel terribly bad for Joe for all the negative media coverage he is getting, especially since he didn't ask to be involved.