Joe the Plumber, union man? Ohio Politics Roundup

Should Joe the Plumber get back into politics? Share your thoughts below.

Today we plunge into the whereabouts of Joe the Plumber and examine the potential fallout from an old state plan to promote fracking and Ed FitzGeralds county call center. Dont hang up heres todays Ohio Politics Roundup.

Where are you now, Joe the Plumber?

Pat yourself on the back in the unlikely event that you guessed the United Auto Workers.

Thats right. Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, who pressed Barack Obama on the 2008 campaign trail and became a conservative totem under the shorthand of his nickname and one-time job, says he now has a union job at the Chrysler Jeep plant in Toledo.

Wurzelbacher wrote of his new job Sunday on his website, prompting predictable snickers from Democrats who supported the Obama-backed bailouts of Chrysler and General Motors. Lets just say the welcome wagon needs some time in the repair garage.

I had three days of orientation, and now Im on the job over here at Chrysler and on Day 4, Im outside on a break smoking a cigarette and right on cue some guy calls me a teabagger, wrote Wurzelbacher, referring to a derogatory term for Tea Party backers.

Wurzelbacher draws a distinction between private unions and public unions in his post. Tom Troy of the Toledo Blade writes that Wurzelbacher has not been returning messages, and it is unclear what, exactly, the erstwhile plumber is doing for Chrysler.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur soundly defeated Wurzelbacher in a 2012 race for Congress. Wurzelbachers job would put him in UAW Local 12, part of UAW Region 2B, which recently backed Democrat Ed FitzGerald a Kaptur ally for governor.

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Joe the Plumber, union man? Ohio Politics Roundup