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Who Is Joe The Plumber?

Joe Wurzelbacher Calls Debate 'Surreal'

POSTED: 10:51 pm EDT October 15, 2008
UPDATED: 1:28 pm EDT October 16, 2008

Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama kept talking about "Joe the plumber" during their third and final presidential debate. So, Who is Joe the Plumber?

Video: Who's Joe? | | Get Alerts | Compare Candidates

He's Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio man looking to buy a plumbing business.

Days earlier, Wurzelbacher told Obama he was worried that the Democrat's tax plan would keep him from buying the business. McCain sought to make political hay out of the meeting.

"He looked at your tax plan and he saw that he was going to pay much higher taxes," McCain said to Obama. "You were going to put him in a higher tax bracket which was going to increase his taxes, which was going to cause him not to be able to employ people, which Joe was trying to realize the American dream."

"Let me tell you what I'm actually going to do," Obama shot back. "What I essentially said to him was, 'Five years ago, when you were in a position to buy your business, you needed a tax cut then.' And what I want to do is to make sure that the plumber, the nurse, the firefighter, the teacher, the young entrepreneur who doesn't yet have money, I want to give them a tax break now."

Later, when the conversation turned to health care costs, McCain brought Wurzelbacher up again, this time as his "old buddy."

"Now, my old buddy, Joe, Joe the plumber, is out there. Now, Joe, Sen. Obama's plan, if you're a small business and you are able -- and your -- the guy that sells to you will not have his capital gains tax increase, which Sen. Obama wants, if you're out there, my friend, and you've got employees, and you've got kids, if you don't get -- adopt the health care plan that Sen. Obama mandates, he's going to fine you," McCain said. "Now, Sen. Obama, I'd like -- still like to know what that fine is going to be, and I don't think that Joe right now wants to pay a fine when he is seeing such difficult times in America's economy."

Obama retorted, "I'm happy to talk to you, Joe, too, if you're out there. Here's your fine -- zero. You won't pay a fine."

McCain paused and said, "Zero?"

"Zero, because as I said in our last debate and I'll repeat, John, I exempt small businesses from the requirement for large businesses that can afford to provide health care to their employees," Obama said. "I exempt small businesses from having to pay into a kitty."

So what does Wurzelbacher have to say about literally being at the center of the debate.

He says his name being mentioned in the campaign is "pretty surreal."



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