Joe the Plumber: Unregistered Voter, and More...

I've been relatively quiet about the debates, but last night, I watched something different: a 90 minute informercial for Joe Wurzelbacher, or "Joe the Plumber" from Ohio.  To paraphrase Churchill: never has the life story of so few (er, one) been so important to the policies that will affect so many.  Forget middle-class tax cuts; give us Joe the Plumber tax cuts!

So, what do we know about Joe the Plumber?

1. Apparently, he's not registered to vote.  Talk about an inefficient allocation of persuasion resources...
2. He's never met McCain, and vice versa.
3. He's comfortable comparing Obama's tap-dancing to Sammy Davis, Jr. on national television.  (More tellingly, the CBS studio crew liked the bit).

(H/T to Gerry Canavan  and Talking Points Memo)

Look, I didn't wake up this morning hoping to put Joe the Plumber on blast, and I'll largely refrain from doing so, as it does not appear that he actively sought out to be the subject of last night's debate.  But the laughter I heard in the CBS studio after his "Sammy Davis, Jr." crack is ominous.  Much like with the bigots and kooks at the Palin rallies, it's not the ones who yell "terrorist" who are the biggest problem--they're a big problem, but they can be isolated, and they self-identify.  Rather, the people who quietly smile, laugh, cheer, and tolerate this kind of insensitivity that are the real problem, and have been for quite some time.