Dem Bones: Presidential Press Conference

Monday, February 9, 2009

Elkhart is the new Joe the Plumber.

Anonymous said...: Can we please stop calling this guy Joe the Plumber? He is not nor ever has been a licensed plumber and his latest profession, last I checked, was a war correspondent.; February 9, 2009 at 9:50 PM
Drew said...: I guess I was trying to say that this is the new oft-used symbolic phrase of politics.

"Elkhart" and "Joe the Plumber" both, theoretically, symbolize common America(ns). "Elkhart" is an normal, yet economically devastated, American community under the current economic crisis, and theoretically, "Joe the Plumber" was an average American under (and against) Obama's campaign economic plan. So both provide the politician a rhetorical device to portray their ideas to a public, which, in turn, personally identifies with the symbol. Anyone who lives in Martinsville understands the power of the Elkhart symbol.

It is oft-used, repeatedly stated over and over to drill the symbol into our conscious. It also provides a pivot point to all questions and inquiry by reporters; in terms of messaging, always go back to the symbol and the narrative.

And finally it is new, because the "Joe the Plumber" symbol was both poorly vetted and executed.; February 11, 2009 at 1:31 AM

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