By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
House Speaker John A. Boehner kicked off the 112th Congress by saying Americans are ready for an adult conversation on spending and deficits. Two years later, that broader conversation has yet to happen.
Four years ago, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (known now as Joe the Plumber) asked a simple question of the then-Sen. Barack Obama about his small-business tax policy. After a lengthy explanation, Mr. Obama concluded his reply by saying, "When you spread the wealth around, it's good for everyone."
The career change from Joe the Plumber to Joe the Congressman isn't proving easy, but one of the most colorful figures of the 2008 election is giving it a go in the 2012 election cycle.
He is a burly, outspoken, working man's icon, plucked from obscurity during the 2008 presidential election cycle when he was lauded by Republicans for taking on candidate Barack Obama. Four years later, the Ohio native is mounting his own Republican bid to unseat a 15-term incumbent Democratic congresswoman.
In a bitter battle of liberal Democratic heavyweights, Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur prevailed over longtime friend and fellow incumbent Rep. Dennis Kucinich in Tuesday's primary in their newly drawn and combined congressional district.
The Republican presidential brawl will not be the only fight on the ballot when voters in the swing state of Ohio head to the polls on Super Tuesday.
They have served a combined 46 years in the House of Representatives, ethnic Catholic liberals born four months apart representing districts along their state's northern border.
Country music icon Willie Nelson has come to Ohio to sing out in support of an old friend, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (koo-SIH'-nich).
Newt Gingrich says a luxury cruise he took through the Greek Isles earlier this year that prompted top aides to quit his campaign was designed to show he's "a different kind of candidate."
In Ohio, a redistricting plan recently approved by state lawmakers is pitting longtime incumbents against each other, turning up the heat in the Buckeye State's 2012 election cycle.
"Joe the Plumber" is launching his bid for Congress.
Joe the Plumber is plunging into politics.
Joe the Plumber is plunging into politics. The Ohio man who man who became a household name after questioning Barack Obama about his economic policies during the 2008 presidential campaign has filed paperwork to run for Congress.
U.S. Reps. Dennis J. Kucinich and Marcy Kaptur jumped into re-election campaigns in the same newly redrawn congressional district across northern Ohio on Wednesday, setting up a primary fight next year between two veteran Democratic incumbents.
One in eight jobs in the district is tied to the automobile industry, she said, and President Obama and other Democrats have not been shy in pointing up the administration's efforts to save the Detroit-based car companies.
