Joe Wurzelbacher and Senator Obama, AP photo

Joe the Plumber was mentioned multiple times in last night's presidential debate. So who is he?

Joe the Plumber, aka Joe Wurzelbacher, met Senator Barack Obama Sunday during Obama's visit to Holland, Ohio.

"Do you believe in the American dream?" Wurzelbacher asked Obama.

"Yes, sir," Obama replied.

Wurzelbacher told Obama that he is trying to buy the plumbing business where he has worked for years and worries that he will pay higher taxes under Obama's proposal.

"It's not that I want to punish your success," Obama said. "I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success too. My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody."

Early in last night's debate, Senator McCain brought up "Joe the Plumber."

"Joe wants to buy the business that he has been in for all of these years, worked 10, 12 hours a day," McCain said. "But he looked at your tax plan, and he saw that he was going to pay much higher taxes."

McCain and Obama exchanged Joe the Plumber references back and forth all evening.

Wurzelbacher told the Associated Press: "It's pretty surreal, man, my name being mentioned in a presidential campaign." Reporters camped out by his house overnight and by midmorning there were 21 people on his driveway, holding cameras and notebooks. Wurzelbacher refused to say which candidate he would vote for.

So what about the moniker Joe the Plumber? What's in a name?

Is being called Joe the Plumber a good description of Wurzelbacher? Do you find it demeaning? A compliment? Ask students to write a brief essay explaining whether they think "Joe the Plumber" is used appropriately; ask them to support their opinions with facts.

How would students like to be known? Would they like to grow up to be Mary the Dentist? Fred the Computer Technician? Jean the Cashier? Can someone have several monikers? the teacher . . . the mother/father . . . the daughter/son/grandchild . . . the person who drives carpool, etc. . . What names do you want to be remembered by?

Besides Obama and McCain the Senators and Obama and McCain the Presidential Candidates, how else are Obama and McCain known? How do you think they'd most like to be remembered?

 Tags  Joe the Plumber McCain moniker name Obama Wurzelbacher

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