Sewer Rat.

     Samuel Wurzelbacher--AKA: "Joe the Plumber"--continued to milk his 15 minutes of fame Monday at a rally of McCain rednecks in Columbus, Ohio.

     The ersatz spokesman for the Common Man and idiot campaign prop agreed with an attendee who asked him if an Obama presidency would spell the "death of Israel."

     Even FOX News's Shepard Smith was incredulous, and called him on it in this live telephone interview.

     Is this part of an orchestrated hit job--an October surprise--by a desperate John McCain?  

     

     Is this report in today's Los Angeles Times Part Two of McCain's last-ditch effort to paint Obama as an Israel-hater? 

       

     John McCain's presidential campaign Tuesday accused the Los Angeles Times of "intentionally suppressing" a videotape it obtained of a 2003 banquet where then-state Sen. Barack Obama spoke of his friendship with Rashid Khalidi, a leading Palestinian scholar and activist.
     The Times first reported on the videotape in an April 2008 story about Obama's ties with Palestinians and Jews as he navigated the politics of Chicago. The report included a detailed description of the tape, but the newspaper did not make the video public.

     "A major news organization is intentionally suppressing information that could provide a clearer link between Barack Obama and Rashid Khalidi," said McCain campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb. " . . . The election is one week away, and it's unfortunate that the press so obviously favors Barack Obama that this campaign must publicly request that the Los Angeles Times do its job -- make information public."
     The Times on Tuesday issued a statement about its decision not to post the tape.
     "The Los Angeles Times did not publish the videotape because it was provided to us by a confidential source who did so on the condition that we not release it," said the newspaper's editor, Russ Stanton. "The Times keeps its promises to sources."

     These two media dust-ups seem related to me, and would be a direct attempt to sway Jewish votes in the battleground state of Florida.

     Current Sunshine State polls indicate a tight race, but optimism is said to be in short supply among McCain's inner circle. 

     Using the judgement of a drunk in Vegas, McCain seems to think that pinning his hopes on a semi-literate, largely-uninformed dunce from Ohio is a strong strategy.

     Six more days, and Joe the Plumber can finally recede like the water in that clogged toilet he doesn't have the license to fix. 

     Flushed down the drain with McCain's stinking campaign.