On March 5, Tea Bagger Celebrity, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher a.k. a Joe the Plumber came to Eau Claire, Wisconsin. You may remember Mr. Wurzelbacher from the 2008 presidential campaign. Wurelbacher rose to fame when he was put on national news with the question that he posed to Barack Obama during a campaign stop. Wurzelbacher said, "I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year. Your new tax plan's going to tax me more, isn't it?" The McCain-Palin campaign almost immediately began using Wurzelbacher in their own campaign. He often appeared at Republican rallies and became the GOP symbol for middle-class Americans.
It appears Wurzelbacker is still a hero for the right as he is now a part of a bus tour that is going across Wisconsin called, "Stand Against Spending. Stand With Walker" sponsored by "Americans for Prosperity" (AFP). AFP is a group fronting special interests started by oil billionaire David Koch and Richard Fink ( a member of the board of Directors of Koch Industries).
AFP started this tour on Thursday, March 3 in Kenosha and is scheduled to end on Sunday, March 6 in Madison with 10 stops around the state. It appears as though "Joe the Plumber" must now be "Joe the Speaker".
Saturday's AFP rally in Eau Claire was held at the Holiday Inn on Craig Road. The "Stand With Walker" bus that AFP is using for this tour could only drop off it's sole passenger and had to move on as there was not a parking spot to be found. The lot was likely filled with cars of people who came to counter this planned rally.
Both sides of the street where the hotel entrance is, were lined with over 1000 people protesting Scott Walker's budget bill. Inside where the AFP rally was taking place, was a "standing room only" crowd of about 100 people.
Both the AFP host, Matt Seaholm and Wurzelbacker referenced the large crowd outside when speaking to the Tea Baggers. Seaholm stated, "The crowd outside is refusing to let State Representative Warren Petryk of Wisconsin's 93rd Assembly District through the gauntlet that the protesters outside had formed." He then introduced "Joe the Plumber".
Wurzelbacker said to the Tea Baggers, "Tea Partyers are bunch of individuals, coming together to share what we can do best for our country, what is best for our state. Out there they are all about me. That's the problem, they are all about me. Now don't get me wrong, there is a lot of good people out there, they are scared because they have had that guarantee most of their work life. Most of us don't have that guarantee, most of us have to work hard."
After Wurzelbacker's short talk, Seaholm once again asked for Warren Petryk if he had arrived. When there was no response Seaholm once again mentioned that he thought Petryk had likely been detained by the crowd of protesters outside.
As things started winding down in the meeting I left to find Warren Petryk. I found him outside. I found Mr. Petryk surrounded by people asking him questions. I got my question in and he answered. See the attached video. -saw-