SAGE ADVICE…. Republican congressional aides gathered yesterday for a meeting of the Conservative Working Group. The topic: opposition to the economic stimulus package. The guest policy strategist: unlicensed plumber/campaign prop Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher.
So, how’d it go? Wurzelbacher told the New York Daily News, “Went really well.”
“It’s not politically incorrect to say you’re Republican or conservative,” Joe said. “They need to dig their heels in and fight for what needs to be done.” […]
One thing that needs to be done, he said, is killing this stimulus package, because it’s just another example of “American government” — Republicans and Democrats — “kicking our butts left and right.” He also called it welfare.
To reiterate a point from yesterday, the problem really isn’t with Wurzelbacher. He doesn’t have a background in this stuff, so it’s not surprising he doesn’t understand what the stimulus package is, what it would do, how it would help, etc. The poor guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about, so he ends up saying foolish things.
That’s partially his fault, but it’s largely the fault of those who keep calling on him to make baseless policy pronouncements in the first place. I don’t blame the schmo who’s in over his head; I blame the offices of congressional Republicans that believe the schmo should help guide the party’s policy agenda.
