What happened to the Democratic Party? Just a few generations ago, the party of Franklin Roosevelt went to bat for the little guy, the common man, the everyday Joe the plumber.

Not anymore. Now, the wealthy elites who run the Democratic Party have declared war on working-class Americans while pretending to defend them against greedy and heartless Republicans.

Those would be the same Republicans whose vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, doesn't just talk about working-class people but actually embodies one and yet has been savaged by liberals.

And those would be the same Republicans who have devised a tax plan that might just appeal to "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, the Ohio resident who dared to confront Barack Obama over the unfairness of his tax plan.

In a candid moment that could well lose him some votes, Obama acknowledged to Wurzelbacher that he intended, if elected president, to take the wealth of those making more than 250,000 per year and "spread it around" to others making less. That wasn't very smart, and the Obama campaign knows it.

So they're trying to change the subject by making Joe the Plumber the issue. They're doing so, with a little help from their friends in the news media and labor unions, by digging into Joe's background in search of something embarrassing. Already, the pro-Obama forces have found that Joe Wurzelbacher owes back taxes, doesn't have a plumbing license, and may not be registered to vote. And there may be more to come.

That will teach Joe to keep quiet. Let's hope the country learns a lesson as well - about what the Democratic Party used to be and what it has become.

REPRINTED FROM THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE.

RELEASED BY CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.