Topic: Joe Wurzelbacher

Former plumber's assistant

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (pronounced /ˈwɜrtsəlbɑːkər/; born December 3, 1973), famously dubbed Joe the Plumber, is a resident of Ohio, United States who gained significant attention during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. As an employee of a plumbing contractor, he was given the moniker "Joe the Plumber" after he was videotaped questioning then-Democratic candidate Barack Obama about his small business tax policy during a campaign stop in Ohio. The Republican McCain-Palin campaign later applied "Joe the Plumber" as a metaphor for middle-class Americans. He subsequently published a book about his experiences, and has appeared as a motivational speaker and commentator.

On October 12, 2008, three days before the final presidential debate, Obama met residents in Wurzelbacher's Ohio neighborhood. Wurzelbacher, who had been playing football with his son in his front yard at the time, asked Obama about his tax plan. As ABC News cameraman Scott Shulman recorded the conversation, Wurzelbacher suggested that Obama's tax plan would be at odds with "the American dream." Wurzelbacher said, "I'm getting ready to buy a company that makes 250 to 280 thousand dollars a year. Your new tax plan's going to tax me more, isn't it?"