Joe the Plumber
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.
Wurzelbacher, now dubbed "Joe the Plumber," heard his name invoked in whole or in part more than two dozen times during Wednesday's presidential debate in Hempstead, New York, first by Sen. John McCain and then by Sen. Barack Obama. 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." Wurzelbacher, 34, unintentionally stepped onto the political scene over the weekend when Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, was campaigning in Holland, Ohio, just west of Toledo.