NORMAN — MOORE - While he wasn’t carrying a wrench and a plunger, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher — a.k.a. “Joe the Plumber” — offered a pumped-up Tea Party crowd in Moore a lot of common sense and “Average Joe” ideas on a blustery Friday night.

Sponsored by the Oklahoma City, Norman and Grady County Tea Parties, along with the Bott Radio Network, Wurzelbacher spoke before a large dinner crowd of Republican and conservative activists at First Baptist Church of Moore as part of the “Renovate Washington, Not the Constitution” political event, as a way to kick off the 2012 election season.

Wurzelbacher, 38, looking casual in his Carhartt jacket and jeans was in Oklahoma as part of a construction project at Camp Crossway, a Christian camp for Native American children in Pawnee County.

He was invited to Moore to speak to the fired-up Tea Partiers about his political philosophy, his run for U.S. Congress and his famous encounter with Barack Obama over three years ago.

It was just a few weeks before the 2008 presidential election when Wurzelbacher entered the political zeitgeist during an encounter he had with Obama while the then-Senator from Illinois was campaigning in Wurzelbacher’s neighborhood in Holland, Ohio, near the Michigan border.

It was on that day that Wurzelbacher and his son were tossing a football back and forth in their yard when a crowd descended on his neighborhood. It was Obama, campaigning and talking to people.

When Wurzelbacher directly asked Obama about his proposed tax plan that would affect small-business guys like Wurzelbacher, a plumber, Obama replied, “I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.”

The encounter between Wurzelbacher and Obama would make “Joe the Plumber” a household name after it was repeatedly aired in those final weeks. The John McCain/Sarah Palin campaign used Wurzelbacher as a prop until the end, with McCain telling crowds: “We’re going to fight for Joe, my friends, we are going to fight for him.”

Wurzelbacher’s own political ambitions would come to the forefront in the months after Obama was inaugurated.

And it wasn’t until this past year that “Joe the Plumber” decided to throw his hat in the ring as a Republican candidate.

Wurzelbacher told the Tea Party crowd that he is running in the newly redistricted Ohio District 9 Congressional seat. As a result he is facing incumbent Democratic Reps. Dennis Kucinich and Marcy Kaptur.

Additionally, two other Republicans are expected to run as well.

Despite media reports claiming Wurzelbacher was not a plumber, he did say he is a plumber but not licensed by the state of Ohio. He was a plumber in the military and “plumbed all over the world.”

Wurzelbacher made himself available to anyone who wanted to talk to him, get an autograph or have a picture taken with him.

Mallory Harvey, with the Norman Tea Party, said she was very pleased with the strong turnout on Friday night.

When The Norman Transcript asked Wurzelbacher about the current presidential race, he did not say who he was supporting at this time.

“I haven’t been weighing in on it. Regardless of who gets (the nomination) they need to get America back on track.”

Reminding Wurzelbacher about fellow Ohioan and Speaker of the House John Boehner’s reminder to Congress on the importance of wearing “appropriate” dress, in light of his own dressed-down appearance, Wurzelbacher said he wasn’t aware of Boehner’s reminder and said he is “just real.”

“Six-hundred dollar suits and $400 haircuts just don’t have much validity for the working people in this country,” he said, adding that there are more important things that Congress needs to worry about than dress codes.

“We need to do things that make sense,” he said, referring to Congress and the federal government. “We need to replace the tax code - the Fair Tax, Flat Tax, 9-9-9 … we need to encourage people to return manufacturing base back to the U.S. … we need jobs and an environment that encourages job growth.”

Asked about his thoughts since the 2008 election and President Obama’s performance since entering office, Wurzelbacher said the president is “enacting his agenda perfectly” by making sure there is an “anti-growth” environment out there, affecting communities like those in northwestern Ohio where he lives.

Emcee Paul Sublett, general manager of Bott Radio Network, asked Wurzelbacher a series of questions.

One included the recent Georgia court case where Obama’s status as a natural-born citizen was addressed. Wurzelbacher said that while he did not want to downplay the seriousness of that topic, it was a “distraction” in light of more important issues facing everyday Americans.

He called Obama’s health-care bill “unconstitutional,” emphasizing that he was pro-life and that “at the moment of conception it’s a child” and that he is disappointed with the freshman Congressional Class of 2010, saying they have been “a letdown.”

Wurzelbacher also said that Republicans need to work harder in utilizing online social media and Internet resources as a way of furthering the conservative agenda.

Regarding Oklahoma politics — Oklahoma being the “reddest of the red,” according to Sublett — Wurzelbacher jokingly replied, “The liberals see you all as a bunch of backwards, uneducated hicks … certainly don’t want to work for a living?”

Continuing, Wurzelbacher said people back in Ohio and around the country view Oklahoma as a leader in terms of conservative and Republican successes.

“People see what Oklahoma is doing. You guys are doing a great job,” he said. “You guys have really provided leadership for the rest of the country.”

Wurzelbacher concluded by promoting his website — JoeForCongress2012.com — and by saying “If you want a real American in there, that’s not beholden to anybody, then I would appreciate your help. I’m not trying to impress anybody, I’m trying to do what’s right.”

Those in attendance seemed to like what “Joe the Plumber” had to say.

“He has the kind of authenticity that will bring about some positive change if he is elected,” said Norman Tea Party activist Matt Biddick.