Joe the Plumber

After watching some of the clips of the the Presidential debate last night, I'm really disappointed to find out that the now world famous "Joe the Plumber" isn't an American version of Bob the Builder but is actually a real chap. You can see Barak and Joe discussing tax policy for small businesses right here:



Bob the Builder lives in Sunflower Valley where the grass is green, the birds cheep in the trees and super-fun playgrounds are made from recycled material. Like the worlds of many kids' TV programmes, there is something immensely calming about this, and as McCain and Obama kept talking about Joe the Plumber I had this lovely feeling that they shared an ideal of an American sunflower valley as their joint vision of a better future. But alas, Joe is in Ohio and not Sunflower Valley and the more mundane realities taxation and healthcare plans have to take centre stage. Nevertheless, Joe the real plumber does turn out to have the wonderful surname of "Wurzelbacher" and some how just saying that out-loud cheers me up.