Joe the Plumber Has Died

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Joe the Plumber has passed on

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Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, who became known as “Joe the Plumber” after pushing then-Sen. Barack Obama on his economic policies during the 2008 presidential campaign, has died, according to his family. He was 49.

In 2008, Wurzelbacher emerged as the face of the struggling middle class on the campaign trail in Ohio when he challenged Obama over what he would do for small businesses and taxes. In the now-well-known exchange as Obama campaigned door-to-door in Holland, Ohio, Wurzelbacher said he was looking to buy the plumbing company he was working for and asked whether the Democrat believed in the American Dream.

As CNN reported at the time, Wurzelbacher’s name would be invoked in whole or in part more than two dozen times during the final presidential debate between Obama and then-Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee.

Wurzelbacher went on to run for the US House of Representatives in Ohio’s 9th District in 2012, clinching the Republican nomination before losing to Democrat Marcy Kaptur.

As if the GQP ever gave two shits about any struggles he faced.  Especially since he had cancer the past few years.