- That may be Rep. Wurzelbacher to you: Today’s profile in not realizing when your moment has passed comes courtesy of “Joe the Plumber,” who has filed papers to run for the House of Representatives in Ohio’s 9th congressional district. (Among the other folks running: Joe’s polar opposite, Dennis Kucinich, who will be mired in a primary as a result of redistricting.) Joe’s rise to national prominence came in 2008, after he challenged then-candidate Barack Obama at an Ohio event over his tax plan, then became a McCain talking point in the final presidential debate. There was a brouhaha he might run back in 2010, when he would’ve been part of the conservative tide rushing into Washington, and that climate would’ve buoyed him, but now? We think that was his shot, and he passed on it. source