Go Go Joe

I'm forced to nod sadly in agreement with Patrick Ruffini's piece about the "Joe the Plumberization" of the GOP. I didn't think much of Joe when he first arrived on the scene, and, to be frank, I think even less of him now.

Joe's whole appeal was that he was completely apolitical. He didn't have any agenda or ideology; he was just a reg'lar guy, standing up for the interests of other reg'lar guys like himself. He was anti-politics personified.

Now, though, he's become the symbol of what Mark Halperin would undoubtedly call "freak show politics." He is a self-perpetuating phenomenon, the Paris Hilton of politics. He's not a working class hero anymore, but just another political pundit, one more talking head.

Oy. Is this the best conservatism can do? If it is, the movement's in deeper trouble than anyone realizes.