The candidates went out with grace in last night’s final presidential debate. McCain pulled himself together after his meandering, unsure performance last week and Obama kept his cool. Meanwhile, Joe the Plumber lost none of his usual candor and confidence in his first appearance in front of a national TV audience. There ya go, Joe, doggonit! I mean, wait. Who’s Joe?

Joe the Plumber (possibly related to Joe Six-Pack) left the debate looking good – or at least looking important. Whoever this guy is, the candidates sure care a lot about him.

Joe began to take the stage when the debate turned to finicky economic issues – in other words, are these cranky, vote-grubbing politicians actually going to do anything for us, the average American citizen who plans on buying their own business?

Obama’s run-in with Joe bit him in the butt when McCain called him out on his tax proposals; previously, whenever McCain or Palin tried to bust the Democratic candidates on taxes, they had a strong parry: “95% of Americans won’t see a dollar of raised taxes.” Joe the Plumber gave McCain some ammo – here, some dude who just wants to pursue the American dream will, in fact, be affected by the Obama tax plan. Read More »