If John McCain is thinking about making Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher his campaign mascot for the next 20 days, he might want to reconsider. There is less to ol' Joe than meets the eye.
Wurzelbacher is an Ohio man who confronted Barack Obama on the campaign trail last Sunday about his tax plan.
McCain invoked Joe the Plumber more than 20 times during Wednesday night's debate as an example of a working man who would suffer mightily under Obama's plan to raise taxes on people making more than $250 thousand per year.
But in an interview with Katie Couric last night, Wurzelbacher admitted that he is not in a tax bracket that would see an increase under Obama's plan.
COURIC: Well, he supposedly will raise taxes only on people who make over $250,000 a year. Would you be in that category?
WURZELBACHER: Not right now at presently, but, you know, question, so he's going to do that now for people who make $250,000 a year. When's he going to decide that $100,000 is too much, you know? I mean, you're on a slippery slope here. You vote on somebody who decides that $250,000 and you're rich? And $100,000 and you're rich? I mean, where does it end? You know, that's - people got to ask that question.
During the confrontation on Sunday, Wurzelbacher's premise was that the plumbing business he planned to buy earned more than $250,000 per year, and so would be subject to a tax increase. But he did not bring this up with Couric.
He did say, however, that Obama tap dances as well as Sammy Davis, Jr. Seriously.
And beyond a fondness for making a spectacle of himself, ol' Joe's interest in the issues appears to stop short of a willingness to vote.
Two readers with access to the Ohio voter file say that Joe Wurzelbacher's inluence on this cycle will be limited in one way: He doesn't appear to be registered to vote.
First Palin, now this? McCain really must get better at vetting.
