On Political Stunts and Moving the Port of Nassau to Arawak Cay
by Larry Smith
On Political Stunts
If you recall, "Joe the Plumber" was a star attraction during the US presidential debates last fall.
Joe is actually Joe Wurzelbacher, an 'everyman' who appeared out of a crowd at an Obama campaign rally and asked the candidate about his economic plan.
Joe then became the poster boy for the McCain-Palin campaign's attempt to portray Obama as a red-fanged radical plotting to establish a dictatorship of the proletariat and destroy hard-working Americans by "sharing the wealth".
Turned out that Joe was a Republican plant who wasn't registered to vote, wasn't a licensed plumber, owed back taxes, and would actually benefit from the tax cuts proposed by Obama. It also turned out that a majority of Americans were in favour of a more equitable distribution of income.
In short, Joe the Plumber was part of an elaborate political stunt that failed to achieve its goal.
We witnessed a similar exercise here last week, although the issue that the stunt focused on was rather more serious than the redistribution of income. It revolved around the apparent suicide of a 15-year-old juvenile who was jailed on suspicion of housebreaking.
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