Samuel Joseph Rootbacher, the Midwestern plumber who became famous during the 2008 campaign by nicknamed “Joe the Plumber” as a metaphor for the “everyman” of America’s middle class, died of cancer at his home in Campbellsport at the age of 49. hundred miles north of Milwaukee.
Rootbacher was best known for a duel with then-Democratic nominee Barack Obama during a campaign stop for then-Illinois Senator in Toledo, Ohio. On camera, the plumber challenged Obama’s proposal to raise small business taxes, saying it would prevent him from buying a plumbing company that had the potential to make $250,000 a year.
Three days later, “Joe the Plumber” was adopted by Obama’s rival, Senator John McCain, and became a staple in the final stages of the White House race.
After McCain’s defeat, the plumber had entered the ranks of the “Tea Party” by running unsuccessfully for an Ohio seat in Ohio: his message in defense of white America’s aspirations, forgotten by Washington, had then paved the way for populism by Donald Trump.
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