It’s often been said that Obama sees himself as the Messiah. But John McCain has a savior of his own, and it seems like he knows it. McCain can win this race — the polls on which are tightening to within the margin of error — by seizing on the message and image of Joe Wurzelbacher. Or if you prefer, Joe the Plumber.

Obama’s promise to give a tax cut to 95 percent of American workers resonates with almost every voter. He claims that unless you are an individual making over $200,000 per year or a couple making over $250,000 per year, you will see a tax cut from an Obama administration. Putting aside that (1) anyone paying attention to Obama’s big-government philosophy does not believe that, (2) the government cannot give an income-tax “cut” to the one third or so of American workers who pay no federal income taxes, and (3) that Obama has already admitted he might not enact his tax policy if the economy is still down, conservatives have to acknowledge that it is a powerful promise. In fact, several writers on this website predicted early in the campaign that in order to win, McCain must clearly define the tax relief he will provide to the middle class. And as Rich Lowry pointed out here, Bill Clinton used the promise of a middle-class tax cut to ride into the White House in 1992.

So how did Joe the Plumber really help McCain, and how does he help going forward? He does three things. First, he said what McCain was unwilling to say: Obama is simply interested in the redistribution of income. Second, he puts a face on the “rich” who will see their taxes raised under Obama’s plan. Finally, he further exposes those in the mainstream media as sycophantic Obama partisans.

The issue of taxes is usually a winner for Republicans. Obama made the tax debate a wash when he promised to give a tax cut to all but the “rich.” McCain was unwilling to point out that Obama’s proposed tax plan amounts to blatant income redistribution; Joe the Plumber did it for him. When Joe asked Obama why the candidate wanted to use taxes to punish success, Obama said he wanted to “spread the wealth around” because it’s “good for everybody.” Obama then expounded on that ridiculous answer in the third debate, saying he wanted to help all those behind Joe have a chance to be as successful as Joe has been.

Unfortunately for Obama, the average American understands that Joe reached the position of being able to buy a small business without the “help” of Obama’s redistributive tax plan. Americans also understand that it is simply unfair to tax a single father who has become a financial success on his own accord simply to pull up those behind him. Despite years of media and school propaganda and indoctrination, this is still a country that expects a man to earn his own way.

If all that is true, why has Obama’s message resonated with the people? Because it’s easy to talk about taxing the “rich,” just as it is easy to blame the “speculators” for oil prices or the “greedy people on Wall Street” for the financial collapse. Using labels creates a faceless villain, and class warfare usually only works against unidentified targets. Many people don’t personally know — or don’t realize that they know — someone that the media defines as rich. But almost every American knows Joe the Plumber. We know the average guy who works hard, climbs the ladder, and doesn’t ask his fellow citizens or his government to support him. He is John the carpenter, who owns his own small business.. Although we know these ordinary Joes, we don’t know they fall into a category that liberals define as rich. If you’ve read Amity Shlaes’s tremendous book, then you immediately recognize Joe the Plumber as the personification of the Forgotten Man.

In short, Joe the Plumber is the guy that Joe Biden pretends to be. He is the guy who gets knocked down and gets back up. He understands that he will take his lumps. He asks only that his government not knock him down, that his government not dish out those lumps.

Finally, Joe exposes to the ordinary person that the mainstream media is firmly planted in Obama’s corner. As Michelle Malkin pointed out here, we’ve already heard more from the mainstream media about Joe the Plumber’s private life than we’ve heard about Obama’s connections with ACORN and Bill Ayers. Ordinary people don’t like it when the media attack one of their own for asking a legitimate question of a presidential candidate.

But perhaps even more helpful to McCain than the media’s assault is that the Obama people are going after Joe too. Again, he asked a perfectly legitimate question, and Biden and other Obama surrogates started smearing him. It is one thing when Obama partisans try to stifle the speech of David Freddoso and Stanley Kurtz, or when a Missouri official promises to go after those airing what he considers untruthful ads. It is quite another to try to shut up an ordinary person airing his grievance directly to a presidential candidate. Freddoso and Kurtz are names on a page, but Joe the Plumber is our neighbor.

Often the strength of a presidential candidate’s message depends on the manner in which average Americans identify with it, or on the images it evokes. Joe the Plumber puts a face on what McCain should have been — and finally is — saying all along: Obama’s tax plan is not “fair”; it punishes success, and its only purpose is to redistribute income. If McCain can seize on that message, he just might pull this thing out. Or is it already too late?

– Conor A. McLaughlin is an attorney working in private practice in Cleveland.