I'm talking to you Joe

Barack Obama & Joe Wurzelbacher

If you watched the debate last night, I'm sure you're dying to see a picture of Joe the Plumber. I hope somebody counted the number of times Joe was directly addressed. Joe should forget all his worries about being in a higher tax bracket, with all the free press he's received Joe should soon be THE plumber in Toledo.

Joe the plumber is real hero of the debate
Anne Barrowclough, Times Online, 10/16/08

Joe Wurzelbacher from Toledo, Ohio, has become an unlikely media star after finding himself the focus of the debate between the two White House rivals.

He is a tradesman who has worked 12-hour shifts for years and now plans to buy his own small plumbing business. The trouble for Joe the plumber is that this would take his earnings to more than $250,000 - making him a target of Obama’s plan to tax the wealthy.

First Mr McCain reminded Barack Obama that Joe the plumber did not want to vote for him because his taxes would rise under the Democrat. Then both candidates repeatedly spoke directly to Mr Wurzelbacher, turning him into a real life version of "Joe Six Pack," the ordinary guy chasing the American dream, as they faced off in their third and final debate.

After the debate, Mr Wurzelbacher told familysecuritymatters.com that he hadn't been too impressed with either candidate. He repeated his complaints against Senator Obama, saying: "So he does want to punish me, he does want to punish me for working harder to - you know, my big thing is the American Dream," he said.

But he also refused to endorse Mr McCain: "There's a lot of things I wish McCain would say," he said. "As far as this, yes, I would like him to speak. Not so much about small businesses, but just people in general that make this money," he said.

"I guess I would like him to speak about that and a bunch of other things."

Asked which candidate would get his vote on November 4, he refused to say.

"That's for me and a button to know," he said.

Update via the NY Times:

The plumber came up directly or indirectly 24 times during the debate, an Everyman symbol of the divide between the candidates on how best to address the economy.