Youssef By Any Other Name

... is still Joe. Even in Arabic, it's still Joe.

Poor Joe. He's been unceremoniously dragged into this year's presidential debates. He was just out there in the heartland of America, driving his Chevy truck and listening to George Strait on the country music radio station, minding his own business.

(Don't worry, if it was a Canadian driving across the heartland of Canada, he'd still be driving a Canadian-built Chevy and listening to Conway Twitty, but I digress ...)

I guess the phrase "your average Joe" just doesn't cut the mustard anymore. He's now got to have some superlatives so that you REALLY know that yes, he's just one of us, and that one party knows and understands Joe better than the other party. We've got to label and categorize him, perhaps even patronize him.

Poor Joe. Now he's got a new name. A few weeks ago, it was "Joe Six Pack". I don't know about you, but most Joes I know in North America probably have more in common with a six pack of beer than a six pack of abs.

(Of course, in Canada that would probably be Labatt's - but that's another story.)

Based on the fact that 60% of our population is now considered obese, perhaps Governor Palin should have used a term like "Joe Molson Muscle"!

Now it's "Joe The Plumber". It has a nice ring to it - kinda soothing, like "That One", don't you think? Ahhh but "Joe The Plumber" isn't just the moniker for a WWF wrestling star, it's a real person. Really. A real live voter in, yes, the Pennsylvania Republican primary in March.

All joking aside, we don't need any cute or patronizinig labels for those in the middle class - we need solutions. Solutions to very real problems.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us that in 2007, the mean annual wage for plumbers was $47,350 -  I think well below the $250,000 line that Obama has drawn in the sand. So, yes, "Joe The Plumber" is soon to be just one of the 95% of all small business owners that are heading for a tax cut.

Think back to a time not so long ago. There was G.I. Joe - a Joe which I am surprised McCain hasn't utilized in the debates. Palin could have even used G.I. Jane for some great fun at the podium. Those crazy mavericks ...

But there was also a time when it was "Broadway Joe". Now how cool was that? Joe Namath and the promise to win Super Bowl III in 1969 - a legend of talking the talk and walking the walk. Now THAT was a Joe I could really get behind. And that is certainly a philosophy that I can work with, and that most Joes, average or otherwise, can get behind wholeheartedly.