WASHINGTON: "Yes, it's true. This morning I dismissed all my senior advisers," Sen. John McCain, Republican presidential candidate announced to a roomful of New York's civic elite at a charity dinner Thursday night. "All of their positions will now be held by a man named Joe the Plumber."
McCain was referring to Joe Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, who became a household name after McCain mentioned him 20 times in the final presidential debate on Wednesday, when he used the plumber as a foil for criticism of Democrat Barack Obama's tax policy.
Caught on video, Wurzelbacher, 34, had told Obama during a rally that he wanted to buy the plumbing company he works for, and that his potential income of more than $250,000 would make him eligible for increased taxes under Obama's proposals.
Obama answered that if he earned more than $250,000, after his business expenses, then he would pay higher taxes. If not, he would not.
From that moment, Joe the Plumber became the darling of the conservative media and the McCain campaign, and grabbed national media attention.
At campaign events Thursday, McCain and running mate Sarah Palin both invoked Joe Wurzelbacher in efforts to portray McCain as a champion of the middle class.
Palin said in Maine that McCain is "a leader who is going to Washington to work for Joe the plumber," while McCain declared in Pennsylvania that "Joe's the man" and was the "real winner" of the debate the previous night.
But Joe's instant stardom showed that the spotlight can be unwelcome. Reporters soon found that Wurzelbacher earned around $40,000 last year, that his boss has no intention to sell the business, and that Joe owes the state of Ohio $1,182 in back taxes.
This led liberal commentators to say that Joe was not as concerned about rising taxes as paying taxes at all.
And, alas, Joe himself is no average plumber - according to some in the trade has not earned the title. Wurzelbacher is not a member of the local plumbers union, has no license to practice the trade. Wurzelbacher says he does not need a license because he works for someone else on residential property.
Wurzelbacher has made it clear that he is a conservative and no fan of Obama - he told reporters that Obama's answer to his question was a "tap dance" that was "almost as good as Sammy Davis Jr."
Which caused some reporters to question whether he was a Republican plant.
McCain senior adviser Matt McDonald told reporters: "He's a guy who asked a question that needed to be asked. He's not a campaign staffer; he's not a surrogate. He's not someone who was vetted, and this wasn't something orchestrated by the campaign."
