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The American myth of the Ordinary Joe became a real living person from Toledo, Ohio, last night, when "Joe the Plumber" kept popping up in the final presidential debate between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain. Washington Post
The star of the final presidential debate was Joe Wurzelbacher, aka "Joe the Plumber. CBS News
Joe the Plumber has captured America's imagination -- the everyman who still hopes he can be happy, healthy and wise -- and still make a buck. He had 21 reporters sitting in his driveway Wednesday night. Fox News
A week ago he was a little-known plumber quietly practicing his trade in northwestern Ohio. Now Joe Wurzelbacher is a talking point in the race for the White House. CNN
Until the night of the third presidential debate in the US, Joe Wurzelbacher was just a middle class American with his middle class concerns. But his destiny took a dramatic turn two days ago when he met the Democratic presidential nominee and the Illinois Senator Barack Obama during one of his campaigns in Ohio. It was a coincidence that Joe was playing football with his son at the same time when Barack was canvassing door-to-door in his neighborhood.
In a 6 minute long conversation between Senator Obama and this husky middle-aged guy with a goatee, the latter raised his concern over Obama’s tax policy according to which he would be paying taxes if his annual income exceeded $250,000. Wurzelbacher, who is planning on purchasing the business he currently work for and the yearly profits for which could be in the range of $250,000 to $280,000 questioned Obama why he should be taxed after slogging for several years?
"Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" Wurzelbacher questioned the Illinois Senator.
“I’m gonna cut taxes a little bit more for the folks who are most in need and for the 5% of the folks who are doing very well - even though they’ve been working hard and I appreciate that – I just want to make sure they’re paying a little bit more in order to pay for those other tax cuts…It’s not that I want to punish your success – I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you – that they’ve got a chance at success too.”” Obama told Joe
The encounter between the two was later telecast by Fox News, where Wurzelbacher mentioned that Obama wanted to "redistribute wealth." Wurzelbacher objected to the idea referring to it as "kind of a socialist viewpoint."
Cut to the third and final presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain on the night of 15th October, 2008 at the Hofstra University in NY. Both the candidates were seen making a clean pitch to win over Joe's vote, often talking to him directly while the rest of America desperately waited to hear them talk about burning issues like jobs, economy, healthcare and national security.
Looking straight into the camera, John McCain said, "Joe, I want to tell you, I'll not only help you buy that business that you worked your whole life for and I'll keep your taxes low and I'll provide available and affordable health care for you and your employees."
On the other hand, Obama clarified, "Not only do 98 percent of small businesses make less than $250,000, but I also want to give them additional tax breaks, because they are the drivers of the economy."
John McCain who has been trailing behind in all the electoral polls and in several swing states went on the attack on Wednesday night and used Joe the Plumber’s name repeatedly (26 times!) to illustrate how an average hardworking American would have to pay more taxes were Obama elected the US president.
Senator Obama countered his allegations by repeating his stance: If he were to become the president you will not be paying any taxes if you make less than $250,000 a year.
So, what does Joe Wurzelbacher think of his newfound Fame?
"I was just really surprised that my name was mentioned," he told reporters after the debate. "I think it helped them get their points across, so I was happy about that."
Whatever happens in the elections, one thing is clear-Joe Wurzelbacher is probably the most famous small-business owner in the US and he owes it to John Mc Cain!
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