You can’t overdue the idea of real America. Joe the Plumber is “We the people”. The thing that I would suggest (and if you check my historical postings you can get more detail) is that Joe the plumber has to be America everybody. Everyone is Joe the plumber, he is the engineer, the mother, the student the CEO. Americans dream big and Obama wants to kills the dream, “How many plumbers do you know who make a quarter of a million dollars”. It’s almost Obama’s way of saying, dream on it will never happen.
I agree with you it can’t just be Joe the plumber if the connection is not explicitly made that Joe the Plumber is We the People. If the connection is made every argument can be made from the basis that Joe the plumber (everyday Americans) need x, y and z
“You can’t overdue the idea of real America.”
Matter of opinion, and that depends on how it’s done. I think the Joe the Plumber reference can be overdone, and bringing him to the campaign trail could be the thing that puts it over the line.
He’s getting plenty of exposure as it is.
And, an important point, it’s not how your or I perceive this, but how the voters who might still change their minds perceive it. And there’s probably no way to be sure about that.