Oct. 17 That Joe the Plumber guy sure was the perfect example of guy-next-door, just-wants-to-make-an-honest-living-without-excessive-taxes blue collardom. Or so the McCain advisers thought. Just as the McCain campaign failed to thoroughly vet Sarah Palin though, it also failed to thoroughly vet Joe the Plumber before McCain started dropping his name like he had Tourette Syndrome.
Evidently Joe the Plumber isn’t just any old Joe; he’s a relative of Charles Keating, the corporate giant who dragged John McCain into the Keating Five ethics scandal years ago. The Charles Keating that was jailed for duping clients into buying junk bonds and convicted of fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy. The Charles Keating that went down with Lincoln Savings and Loan, a company which required a $2.6 billion bailout from the government. The Charles Keating that contributed $112,000 to McCain’s campaigning during the 1980’s, sent the Arizona senator on trips, and left McCain in Senate Ethics Committee hearings. Yes, Joe the Plumber is a relative of that Charles Keating.
