Somebody in the Republican Party thought it would be a great idea to send Joe the Plumber to Pennsylvania to rally against the Employee Free Choice Act. The pretend plumber faced audiences so hostile in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg that he skipped a rally in Philadelphia. This perfectly sums of the state of both Joe the Plumber’s 15 minutes of fame, and the GOP.

Here is the report from KDKA about Joe in Pittsburgh:

Here is Joe in Harrisburg admitting that only knows a little about the issue:

These two videos pretty much sum up the intelligence of the Republican Party right now. They send a fake plumber on a tour of an increasingly Democratic state to lobby against a bill that he readily admits he doesn’t understand. Not only do they send him to Pennsylvania, but they send him to three of the biggest pro-union areas in the state. Even the conservative parts of Pennsylvania in the so called “T” have union roots due to the mining and manufacturing that used to be here.

I can’t begin to fully express what a stupid idea this was. Joe could have had a nice little tour if he would have went to the conservative areas of the state, but to schedule him for a trip to the two biggest liberal strongholds was dense beyond belief. Plus, Harrisburg as the state capitol has a huge number of public sector union members. Pennsylvania is one of those states where the Employee Free Choice Act is going to be popular with many people.

The latest Joe fiasco is another sign of the Republicans still don’t get it. The state Republican is mirroring the national GOP by moving further to the right, which explains why they are so eager to rid themselves of Arlen Specter. Pennsylvania teased Republican presidential nominees for years, but it is not going to be in play in 2012. It has gone Democratic in 5 straight presidential elections.

There is a growing discussion about whether or not Pennsylvania should be classified as swing state anymore, so sending the intellectually ill equipped Joe the Plumber into such hostile territory reeks of detachment, desperation, and stupidity. Right now those three adjectives could also be used to sum up the state of the Republican Party.