(ANSA) – New York, August 28 – Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, a Midwestern plumber known by the nickname ‘Joe the Plumber’ as a metaphor for the American middle class ‘everyman’ during the 2008 election campaign, has died. Cancer at age 49 at his home in Campbellsport, a hundred miles north of Milwaukee. Worzelbacher is notable for coming face-to-face with then-Democratic candidate Barack Obama during a campaign stop for the then-Illinois senator in Toledo, Ohio. In front of the cameras, the plumber protested Obama’s plan to raise taxes on small businesses, saying it would prevent him from buying a plumbing company that earns $250,000 a year. Three days later ‘Joe the Plumber’ was adopted by Obama’s rival, Senator John McCain, becoming a fixture in the final stages of the race for the White House. After McCain’s defeat, Plumber entered the ranks of the ‘Tea Party’ by failing to win a seat in Ohio: his message of defending the aspirations of white America forgotten by Washington paved the way for populism. Donald Trump’s. (handle).
“Gamer. Professional beer expert. Food specialist. Hardcore zombie geek. Web ninja. Troublemaker.”
