Earlier today, Sarah Palin introduced us to Joe the Plumber’s replacement. And he’s a man we met over the weekend: Tito Munoz, aka “Tito the Builder”.
Speaking to supporters in Grand Junction, Colorado, Palin said, “Tito is not pleased with how the Barack Obama campaign and some of the media friends there have been roughing up Joe the Plumber.” “Not pleased” is putting it mildly. Our David Corn was at the center of the Tito maelstrom on Saturday, when Munoz intentionally drew a crowd after a McCain rally in order to berate the press. David posed questions to Munoz and the crowd of unhappy McCain supporters surrounding Munoz — the result was the video we posted yesterday, titled “Mad for McCain.”
Today, Palin said of Munoz, “Tito wants to know, and I quote, he asked, ‘Why the heck are you going after Joe the Plumber? Joe the Plumber has an idea. He has a future. He wants to be something greater. He wants to be something else. Why is that so wrong?'” (For the record, Tito’s question was “Why the hell are you going after Joe the Plumber?” but we won’t quibble.)
Tito the Builder isn’t exactly Joe the Plumber. Joe refuses to tell the press who he is voting for. He displays no anger. Munoz is a serious step up: he’s passionately anti-media and anti-Obama. (If you watch the video linked to above, you’ll note that he is also passionately anti-socialism.) Perhaps his chutzpah makes him a better surrogate for the McCain campaign. Welcome to your 15 minutes of fame, Tito.
