Joe the Plumber and Al Smith

The debate drew a lot of the attention, but the two big topics at the end of the week are a sort of plumber from Ohio and a dinner in honor of a long ago Governor of New York. Both Joe the Plumber and Al Smith may have an impact on the homestretch of this race.
First Joe the Plumber. Yes, McCain mentioned him something like 722 times in the debate the other night. Too bad there is not another vice presidential debate, I wonder what the over and under would be on Sarah Palin's use of "Joe the Plumber" and "maverick" in the same sentence? Joe the Plumber however, may have served to crystallize the debate in this campaign.
When he confronted Barack Obama on his tax plan, Obama said we needed to "spread the wealth around". Bingo. There it is. Redistribution of income. Policies that punish work and reward rest. I am stunned that Obama came out and said it.
His economic plan is built on the idea that we must take from the so-called rich and "spread it around". When was this what America was about?
The difference is equality of opportunity vs. equality of outcome. As a conservative I believe in equality of opportunity. Nobody should be denied an education and the chance to be whatever they can be. BUT, we do not always get to be or have whatever we want. I wanted to be the second baseman for the Dodgers, not pecking away on the computer writing some blog that nobody reads. I had the opportunity to play ball in Little League, High School and even college, but I was not good enough for the Dodgers. Nothing conspired against me (other than lack of height, speed and talent). I just did not make it.
Now maybe playing second base for the Dodgers should be wealth that we "spread around". It seems that liberals believe that even though I clearly was not good enough, I should still have gotten to play second base at Dodger Stadium. Aren't we all better off if everyone gets a chance to play for the Dodgers? With the major league minimum salary around $400,000 per year, we would surely be "spreading the wealth around".
But I was not good enough. I have gone on to have a decent life. I availed myself of other opportunities. People in America do that every day.
If we replace equality of opportunity with equality of outcome, we have undercut what makes this country great. It is not that we all get a trophy at the end, it is that we all get a chance. Joe the Plumber wants an opportunity to make his own wealth, not an outcome where he gets some of the droppings of someone else's wealth.
Now Al Smith. Both candidates delivered good stand up comedy routines at the annual Al Smith dinner. It was a show of humanity that we do not see in the course of campaigns. Yes, others wrote the lines, but to see our future President (whichever one of them it is) laugh and smile is healthy for the country. We have had two years of hearing how bad things are and seeing their grim faces. It was nice to see them laugh. Maybe we will all be o.k. after all.
So thanks to Joe the Plumber and Al Smith, maybe we now better understand the choice and have a little faith that, either way, the Republic will survive.