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It’s official now-Joe “six pack” is out of the US presidential politics, Joe “the plumber” is in!
What happened at the Hofstra University on the historic night of 15th October 2008 in the third and final US presidential debate between the Democratic nominee Barack Obama and the Republican nominee John McCain not only catapulted Joe Wurzelbacher (his last name isn’t “The Plumber!”) of Toledo, Ohio into instant global fame, it also triggered a wave of curious enthusiasm among millions of Youtube watchers and set the perfect premise for a multi-million dollar merchandize industry trying to encash upon Joe The Plumber’s instant recognition!
At a time when the US economy is going through its worst slump and seems to be headed towards recession, most Americans tuned on to their television sets on the night of 15th October seeking answers from both the presidential candidates on serious issues like jobs, taxation, healthcare and national security.
But to their astonish and amusement, Senator John Mc Cain decided to take the final presidential debate to a whole new level by keeping the key issues aside and introducing a brand new metaphor to replace the old and much clichéd “Joe Six Pack” --Joe the Plumber!
Needless to say, McCain’s new “metaphor” for the American middle class surpassed the popularity of all the cheezy phrases the US media has been thriving on until now, including “Hockey Moms,” “pit bull/ Lipstick” "You Betcha," “Gotcha Journalism” and “Moose in the headlight" used in the context of the Alaska Governor and John McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin.
In a fiery debate that lasted about 90 minutes and was moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS, Senator John McCain mentioned Joe 21 times, whereas Barack Obama mentioned it 5 times in his responses, leading to a total of 26 mentions for Joe the Plumber. In contrast, Iraq featured in the debate only 6 times and economy found mention 16 times.
Following the discussions that triggered across the various media panels, CBS's Bob Schieffer declared Joe Wurzelbacher the debate's big winner by the end of the night.
That brings us to the next BIG question about this SUPERSTAR of the 2008 US presidential election:
Who really is Joe the plumber and how did it all begin?
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