Who Is Joe the Plumber? by Mike Krumboltz October 16, 2008 06:28:15 AM 427 Votes The third and final presidential debate wasn't about Barack the Senator. And it wasn't about John the maverick, either. Instead it was all about Joe the plumber. The debate was fairly unremarkable, save for repeated references to a plumber from Toledo, Ohio named Joe Wurzelbacher. Sen. McCain made the first reference when he chided his democratic rival for wanting to raise taxes on people like ol' Joe. That's standard—politicians often make allusions to "regular folks" to prove that they understand real problems. But then it got weird. Sen. Obama mentioned the suddenly famous plumber, too. And then Sen. McCain talked about Joe some more. It was almost as if both candidates thought the entire election rode on Joe's vote. By the end of the debate, "Joe the plumber" had been mentioned a grand total of 20 times. That's more than "change" and "reform" combined. The bizarre exchange inspired both the searchers and the bloggers. Queries on "who is joe the plumber" and "joe wurzelbacher" both skyrocketed. Meanwhile, blogs and papers from the Buzz attempted to shed some light on the man behind the socket wrench. The New York Times explains how Joe and Sen. Obama met and discussed Obama's tax plan for small businesses (like, ahem, plumbers). Politico reports that Joe isn't about to surrender his 15 minutes. He's already talked to Katie Couric and he'll be ruminating on his sudden fame during morning news programs. Tune in, but don't expect to hear who he's voting for. Media Bistro writes that Joe plans to keep that between himself and the lever (well, assuming he's registered

Level-headedness, a steady hand, and an encyclopedic knowledge of the trade are standard skills employed by engineers. For our Switchblade, however, these attributes are mere child’s play: she first showed her mechanical bent in infancy, when to amuse herself during her long naptime hours she would routinely dismantle the mobile that hung above her crib and reassemble it in more interesting formations. As a child, she dismissed the pinafores that were standard attire for young ladies of the age in favor of a far more practical pair of coveralls, in which she was accustomed to trot down to the local mechanic’s shop, where the proprietor reluctantly allowed the girl to watch him at his trade. By the time she came of age, Switchblade was far from the village of her birth, designing improved navigation systems for submarines during the Great War. With her heavy tool belt rattling at her hips and a socket wrench most often clenched between her teeth, the young Engineer soon garnered a reputation for taciturnity, though her shipmates could attest to her eloquence in defending her opinions, political and otherwise, in the cabin below deck over cups of strong Russian tea. Though she loved her life beneath the sea, a difference of ethical conviction led our intrepid Engineer to take her talents beyond the roving waves. Within the ranks of the Pastime Athletic Club, Switchblade proves her mettle daily through her inventions, ingenuity, and resourcefulness. Never before has one of our own been so unconditionally deft with ratchet, knife, and compass, nor designed such foolproof mechanisms as to defy the most doggedly curious investigators.