Icet banks on ‘Plumber' for campaign cash flow

No voter should allow an endorsement from a cartoon character to color their decision about an important elected office. Such is the case with Missouri Rep. Allen Icet and his announcement last week that “Joe the Plumber” will back his campaign for state auditor.

When it comes to name recognition, Joe the Plumber (Samuel Wurzelbacher) might rank higher for many Show-Me State residents than Icet, even though the St. Louis County Republican has served as chairman of the House Budget Committee since 2005. Wurzelbacher rose to national prominence during the 2008 presidential campaign for questioning then-candidate Barack Obama about the implications of his tax policies. Donning the “Joe the Plumber” moniker, Wurzelbacher became a folk hero for many conservatives and a punch line for

Democrats who cited the holes in his folksy backstory (including owing back taxes).
Icet, of Wildwood, has solid conservative credentials that should be enough to appeal to Republican voters without having to pander to those who are easily wooed by a pseudo-celebrity. While we are certain that Icet knows the perilous condition of Missouri’s financial situation, we question whether Joe the Plumber, a resident of Ohio, really knows anything substantive about Icet, our state’s finances, what a state auditor does or even where Missouri is on the map.

Is that last point ridiculous and unnecessary? Absolutely, but so is Icet’s use of Wurzelbacher in an effort to win over “tea party”-minded voters and raise campaign funds.

In the news release announcing Joe the Plumber’s support of his campaign, Icet also quoted Missouri Sen. Jim Lembke as saying, “Here we have a man that has been the watchdog of the average ‘joe’ for five years now as the budget chairman in the Missouri House. We need someone in the auditor’s office with the necessary Missouri budget experience, and that man is Allen Icet.”

Maybe that would carry more weight with some voters if we called him “Jim the Senator.”