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Not Just Another Joe In Town Is It?

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By STEVE OTTO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 8, 2008

Joe Biden is in town today. He's scheduled to appear out at the USF Sun Dome.

Oh, you know who I mean ... Joe Biden. No not Shoeless Joe, or Broadway Joe. Not Mean Joe or Smokin' Joe, Nope, none of those more famous Joes. He's certainly not Joe Six-Pack. This is not even the famous Joe of Joe's Stone Crabs or Snoopy's Joe Cool. This time it's just plain Joe Biden the politician.

That's right. He's the guy who played straight man for Sarah Palin last week. He's the vice presidential candidate running with Barack Obama. I know you know this guy.

He's probably better known for a plagiarism incident that nearly ended his career, or for back in the '80s when he allegedly had a hair transplant.

He's the guy you have to wonder about when Barack Obama talks about change.

Not that people seem to be wondering that much. The wondering is all about the other vice presidential contender. She has at least four action figure models. I haven't heard the first thing about a Joe Biden action figure.

On the surface, the appearance of this average Joe doesn't loom very large on our radar.

As much as the presidential contenders ignored Florida last January, it has once again come down to Florida, Florida, Florida. Now they are everywhere. Sarah Palin was in Clearwater this week and the two names at the top of their respective tickets could be Yankee tourists, popping into town for the early bird special and disappearing without leaving so much as a decent tip at the table.

The only reason there is even an asterisk next to today's scheduled appearance is that it is billed as a discussion on economics.

Changing Times

Funny isn't it. There was a time when putting a fading senator on a stage at the University of South Florida to talk economics would bring in about as many people as a USF basketball game against Slippery Rock.

But times have changed. Not the change the Obama campaign is promising nor the change McCain promises.

Instead it is the change of fear and desperation that is blanketing the country. It is also an anger that you don't have to listen too hard to pick up on as the campaigns have abandoned any semblance of integrity or dignity in a final rush to demean their opponents and ignore the issues.

Joe Surprise?

You would like to think that average Joe would do something different today. Instead of taking a motorcade directly to the Sun Dome, maybe rent a car and tool through some of Tampa's neighborhoods and by the rows of "For Sale" signs. He could stop at any of the restaurants where you used to have to fight the crowds but now find half-filled dining rooms where the discussion is not just about the Rays and the Bucs, but 401(k) plans and layoffs.

He could take the long way to the Sun Dome, swinging by Plant City for a cup of joe with people who showed up Monday for a job that's no longer there. He could drive through Sulphur Springs and Seminole Heights to Suitcase City and then to the Dome where he could tell the crowd what his ticket planned to do to turn things around. That would be a change ... and a surprise.

Keyword: Otto Graphs, to read and comment on Steve Otto's column.

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