Samuel Wurzelbacher — better known as Joe the Plumber — officially kicked off his campaign for Congress in Ohio’s 9th district this morning by announcing his candidacy at a Toledo restaurant. Wurzelbacher, who filed his statement of candidacy two weeks ago, promised to “keep it simple” and said that he was confident of a win over Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur.
Just one day into his campaign, it’s already clear that Wurzelbacher’s congressional bid will be one of the more entertaining campaigns in the country. Despite chiding the media for focusing on his past as an unofficial plumber, Wurzelbacher himself declared in his announcement that he’s “not the kind of plumber who uses duct tape,” and thus wouldn’t support short-term solutions to the country’s pressing problems.
Furthermore, when asked by CNN about the serious questions regarding his qualifications, Wurzelbacher replied that he served in the Air Force for four years — as a plumber — and that “as far as my qualifications, I’ve been an American for 37 years.”
By his logic that would make Kaptur, who is 65 years old, almost twice as qualified as Wurzelbacher. In any case, Wurzelbacher’s Tea Party-backed campaign will likely serve as a constant reminder of how crazy Republican politics have gotten in the last four years.
