Joe the Plumber is Here to Stay

by Ron Daly

I don't suppose I have to tell you who this guy is. 

His name is Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as "Joe the Plumber". He was all the rage in November, calling out then-candidate Barack Obama on his "share and share alike" policy and standing up now-Senator John McCain on the campaign trail. He came back recently to tell the American people about his distaste for McCain's attitudes on the bailout (click here). 

But more important than who he was is what he is now, and what he will be from now on - the voice of the average American. Sure, Wurzelbacher himself isn't so average - most people don't go from being an aspiring plumber to a recording star/author overnight. But the idea of your average guy or lady who just wants to be able to say "I get it. I understand." About government, or taxes, or the economy, or anything. 

It's these folks that have made the difference in the past few months. It was all the "Joes" out there who were hurting when the economy dove out of the sky like a dead bird. Their mortgages went underwater, their retirements were crippled, their jobs were in jeopardy. And they aren't out of the woods yet. 

Enter the faithful credit union. When banks were being bought and sold, credit unions came out with the "Safe and Sound" missives, finally proving that there was a difference between a credit union and a bank - and the difference would make a difference for those who had been harmed financially.

Credit unions were suddenly media darlings. Overnight, we went from "ABCFCU sponsors Car Wash" to "ABCFCU actually has money to lend and won't drive you into the ground with outrageous charges". It was a simple message, and easy to understand. Our "Joes" out there finally got it and started joining CUs left and right. There are thousands of links and stories to support this, but I'm going to link to the one I saw this morning (click here).

But now, the downswing has started. We've spent these past two months talking about how we as an industry are different from "banks". We've talked about how disparate the two industries are. But in the past two weeks, both Michael Fryzel of the NCUA and Dan Mica of CUNA have gone on CNBC to answer questions about the differences between Corporate CUs and Retail CUs (Click here to go to CNBC's videos and see their arguments). Because, as we all know, corporates are pursuing government funding (click here for the CU Journal article) and retails aren't. 

I'll go ahead and ask the obvious question: It's taken us years to try and convince all the Joe the Plumbers in this country that we're different from banks. How easy is it going to be for anyone in the industry to tell all those Joes the difference between a corporate credit union...and a credit union? In their mind, are the two going to be the same? You tell me.

Comment here or on the Townhall Meeting Page, whichever you prefer.

"Joe the plumber" photo from WashingtonPost.com.