ShareThisWaves of boos and cheers broke against one another last night as Joe Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, aimed a message of populist skepticism at unions and politicians of both parties in a packed Pittsburgh area ballroom.
The chief target for Wurzelbacher -- the Toledo, Ohio, man who became a conservative icon when U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., made him the offstage star of the final presidential debate last year -- was the Employee Free Choice Act, dubbed "card check" by critics, a measure designed to make it easier for unions to organize.
"Forget Democrat, forget Republican. Think about America," Wurzelbacher said as he described how he'd been disillusioned on a recent trip to Washington, D.C., in the midst of the debate on the Obama administration's stimulus package.
Turning to the labor law proposal, he said he'd been encouraged in his stance against it by the reactions of union members among his neighbors in Toledo.
To call the reaction mixed would be a considerable understatement.
As Wurzelbacher characterized the labor measure as a threat to democracy, many members of the crowd of more than 100 cheered enthusiastically. But their approbation competed with calls of "liar," "pay your taxes," and a few more colorful words from the sizable union contingent that had migrated from a demonstration outside to infiltrate the audience in the Green Tree, Pa. Radisson hotel ballroom.
Wurzelbacher appeared unperturbed by the catcalls as the impromptu debates within the audience grew heated, under the gaze of several Green Tree police officers.
Earlier, in a pre-emptive news conference denouncing the event, Thomas Bigley, the business manager of Pittsburgh Plumbers Local 27, said he was angered by the post-debate notoriety conferred on Wurzelbacher.
"It's definitely a slap in the face to every real plumber out there," he said, arguing that the he should be regarded as "Joe the imposter," as he is not a licensed plumber.
In an interview before his remarks, Wurzelbacher acknowledged that he is not a state-certified plumber in Ohio but insisted that he was a working plumber with years of experience on the job.
The lack of a union card, or professional certification, hasn't impaired Wurzelbacher's Warholesque road to fame. Since the New York debate, he has pursued his own public policy agenda.
In recent months, he has traveled to Israel to cover the conflict in Gaza, offered his analysis of the president's stimulus package, been touted as a potential candidate for Congress, and even co-authored a book, "Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream."
"A lot of people seem to respond to what I have to say," he said.
"And what I'm saying is very simple, I'm just regurgitating what my mother and father taught me."
E-mail James O'Toole at jotoole(at)post-gazette.com.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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