Everyday movers, shakers

Among the tenets Americans hold dear is that anyone can grow up to become . . . famous. You thought we were going to say “president,” didn’t you? Don’t be ridiculous.

Joe the Plumber, who went from small-town obscurity to overnight fame after his sidewalk encounter with Barack Obama became a centerpiece of John McCain’s campaign rhetoric, has acquired an agent to manage his career as national celebrity.

There were other everyday Americans whose serendipitous interactions with the presidential candidates also made waves. Some abruptly changed the narrative by asking the unexpected question or provoking the unexpected comment. Others gave the candidate a story to tell Americans along the campaign trail. No one took off quite like Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher, Ohio’s most famous nonlicensed plumber. But here, we celebrate them nonetheless.

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Marianne Pernold-Young was standing in a coffee shop in Portsmouth, N.H., one morning in January, trying to gather the nerve to ask Hillary Rodham Clinton a question.

It was the day before the New Hampshire primary, and the 64-year-old freelance photographer had been invited by the Democrat’s presidential campaign to participate in a round-table discussion. “I thought: ‘Everybody’s going to ask the same questions about Social Security and welfare,’ ” Pernold-Young remembers. “They’re pat questions and pat answers. I wanted to hear what it’s like to be Hillary.

“But every time I thought about asking it, my tummy would tumble a little bit.”

Then somebody passed her the mike. “As a woman,” Pernold-Young said, “I know it’s hard to get out of the house and get ready. My question is very personal. How do you do it?”

Clinton, known for her steadiness on the campaign trail, wavered. Her voice cracked. Tears welled.”It’s not easy, it’s not easy,” the New York senator said huskily. “And I couldn’t do it if I just didn’t, you know, passionately believe it was the right thing to do. You know, I have so many opportunities from this country. I just don’t want to see us fall backwards, you know?”

The media canonized it as the moment Clinton connected with voters. Suddenly, the seasoned politician seemed flesh and blood, a woman with feelings.

The next day, Clinton pulled off a surprise victory in New Hampshire. And every journalist in America, it seemed, was clamoring to talk to “the woman who made Hillary cry.”

“We had satellite trucks at our house for three days,” Pernold-Young said. “My husband became my press secretary.”

The spotlight faded, although Pernold-Young still enjoys a bit of celebrity. “When I’m introduced by friends they always say, ‘Oh, Marianne was the one that asked that question.’ ”

-- Kate Linthicum