About
Trail Mix, the campaign blog of the Winston-Salem Journal, is a conversation about North Carolina's elections in 2008. Come here for news and analysis on the U.S. Senate race, the governor's race and all the other statewide races.
Trail Mix is written by James Romoser, the Journal's Raleigh reporter. Got a tip? E-mail me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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Quote of the Moment
“It’s ironic that the urban areas defeated an urban candidate.”
—Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, on his narrow loss to Bev Perdue in the race for governor
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North Carolina, Meet Joe
CONCORD — “Joe the Plumber” has plunged into the national spotlight — and now the North Carolina spotlight — as John McCain hopes to use the plumber’s story to energize his campaign.
Joe Wurzelbacher gained attention this week after he met Barack Obama during one of Obama’s campaign appearances. Wurzelbacher questioned and criticized Obama’s tax plan, saying that it would cause his income taxes to go up if he succeeds in buying his own plumbing business.
McCain repeatedly mentioned Wurzelbacher during a debate with Obama on Wednesday, and he continued to hit on the plumber rhetoric today in Concord, as he invoked Wurzelbacher to try to differentiate the two candidates’ tax plans.
“The real winner this week was Joe the Plumber!” McCain proclaimed to thousands of cheering supporters at a rally here. “Joe won because he’s the only person who can get a real answer out of Sen. Obama. Congratulations Joe, that’s an impressive achievement.”
McCain tried to portray Obama’s tax plan as a socialist-style redistribution of wealth.
It was McCain’s second appearance in North Carolina in less than a week. He acknowledged that he needs a comeback and said that North Carolina will be critical.
“I’m gonna give you some hard facts,” he said. “We have to win the state of North Carolina, and I’m counting on you to do it.”
More on Joe the Plumber, and the two candidates’ tax plans, in tomorrow’s Winston-Salem Journal.