Posted by
David Johns on Thursday, October 16, 2008 11:43:05 AM
Unfortunately John McCain, and most pundits and bloggers, have seized on the wrong part of Obama's conversation with the newly famous Joe the plumber. McCain chose to focus on the "spread the wealth" part which plays to his conservative base who are, rightfully, angered by the socialistic notion of wealth redistribution, however, he missed out on a larger opportunity to reach out to the independents and a great many of the center-right folks who will ultimately decide this election.
The first thing Senator Obama said to Joe the plumber was key to what is in store for us with an Obama administration; "It's not that I want to punish your success..."
That little sentence speaks volumes not only by what it says but by what it doesn't. He acknowledges that he will be punishing success! "It's not that I want to" but I can't help it that is how my plan to grow the economy from the ground up works. We punish the success of folks like you Joe and then we take your money and give it to folks that did not earn it. Which of course gets us back to the redistribution of wealth, but what is equally important, and may be more important to a great many americans, is that this plan punishes success and Obama has (finally) acknowledged that.
The American Dream is based on the idea that if we work hard enough, plan well enough and believe in ourselves enough we can succeed in building a good life for ourselves and our families. Success lies at the heart of this idea. To punish success is as un-american as it is stupid. Senator Obama knows this and that is why he says, it's not that I want to, he is trying to deflect the obvious question before it can be raised by saying it isn't his intention. But, while it may not be his intention, it is clearly the outcome.
If Americans know that success will be punished why on earth should they work so hard to succeed? That is the question that Senator McCain should have left the American public with at the end of last nights debate.