Bill Smith, Editor: On Tuesday, U.S. Senate Candidate Colonel Conrad Reynolds visited Mountain Home Arkansas with "Joe the Plumber." Reynolds spent three days (Monday through Wednesday) making stops across Arkansas with Samuel J. "Joe" Wurzelbacher, a Ohio man who gained fame during the 2008 presidential race. In a interview with ARRA News Service, "Joe" shared about his early years in neighboring Texas where he loved the life as a proud young Texan. Then one day as he learned that he had actually been born in Ohio. His father, a proud hard working blue color worker, traveled where their was work. He taught young "Joe" the value of working with your hands and he became proficient in many of the trades including plumbing.
When asked about the fateful day that made him a national celebrity, Joe shared how he loved both football and being with his son. On that fateful day, with his football out of the running, he found himself in his yard tossing the football with his son. Bararck Obama was campaigning in his Ohio neighborhood. Joe who was considering buying a plumbing business asked if he could ask Obama a question (eventually there were three questions). And, as we all know, the rest is history. In moments, citizen Samuel J. "Joe" Wurzelbacher was cast in history as "Joe the Plumber" sharing everyday ordinary basic business economics with a candidate ignorant of these fundamentals. This candidate went on to become president, and in one year, precipitated the worst National debt in history, the Federal take over of banks and the auto industry, and more.
The Mountain Home event was held at the local VFW facility with 125 people attending, not counting press and support team members. People attending were asked to contribute $10 to cover the cost of the food and facility. This was definitely not the usual Republican campaign event. The attendees were predominately independents with a smattering of democrats and republicans. Many people had not determined which candidate that they would be supporting in the primary. Many had not met or listened before to Conrad Reynolds. However, except for the press, attendees in a rare bi-partisan fashion said they were not voting in November for Blanche Lincoln or another democrat for US Senator.
In an interesting approach, Col. Reynolds and "Joe the Plumber" used a professional tag team approach to communicate with the audience. First, Reynolds appeared alone and spoke while "Joe" remained out of sight. Reynolds quickly identifying himself, his military background and other qualifications. He addressed the politicians in Washington, D.C. and their unnecessary tax and spend programs that have created the excessive national deficit and burden on future generations. He noted that many appeared to have ignored their oaths of office and that in a reality TV show, they could be called "Thugs Gone Wild."Reynolds pointed to the recent victory by Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat as evidence that voters outside of Arkansas also want change. He added, "The election of 2010 will be the best showdown of our lifetime. Please help us get the word out and get people to show up for this showdown." Conrad Reynolds then asked for their vote, for volunteers and for campaign contributions.
"Joe the Plumber" then took the stage and identified that he does his homework before supporting a candidate and does not agree to take most requests. Out of more than 120 requests, he is campaigning this year for five candidates: three republicans, one conservative democrat and an independent. "I've done my vetting. I approve of Conrad." Joe then challenged people to find out for themselves what Reynold's positions are. "Ask him those questions right now while you've got him in front of you," he said.
The two of them used a majority of the time taking questions from the from the audience. Reynolds would accept a couple questions and then "Joe the Plumber" would take a couple and this continued until the event was over. It was evident that many of the people had been involved in TEA Party events. Most people were frustrated over the form letters received from their two Democrat Senators and 1st District Representative. However with the upbeat event, people who were angry with past treatment from their elected officials found themselves laughing. As with most campaigns, Reynolds, Joe, and his staff had to get on to the next event. But they impressively made sure they still reached out to each person before leaving and left volunteers behind until the last person had left. As could be expected by a candidate with a previous career in the military, this event operated like a well-oiled operation, However, more evident was that Conrad Reynolds understand the importance of answering to his superiors. And today, he made it clear by example that he answered to his fellow constituents.
View the Reynold's campaign advertisement used to promote the event.
From the Campaign: Col. Reynolds served his country in many locations including Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, South Korea, and the Czech Republic. During his military career, he was an accomplished leader, manager and a skilled professional in military intelligence operations. He successfully guided and commanded special intelligence units in the war zones of Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia where he developed critical decision-making skills, oversaw multi-million dollar budgets and protected our nation, its interests and the service members under his command. Col. Reynolds also furthered American diplomatic efforts as a military attaché in the Czech Republic helping our European ally prepare to assist in combating global terrorism in Afghanistan. He is also a fervent supporter of the Tea Party movement, the FAIRTAX and lifelong defender of the U.S. Constitution.
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