Who scored the most points in the debate?

Joe the plumber.

During tonight’s debate the candidates mentioned Joe by name more than a dozen times throughout the course of the 90-minute debate.

Actually, one count had it at 15 mentions. And it seemed like more. Over and over, Joe became the Average American who both candidates addressed. 

Sen. McCain: “Joe, I want to tell you, I’ll not only help you buy that business that you worked your whole life for and be able – and I’ll keep your taxes low and I’ll provide available and affordable health care for you and your employees.”

Sen. Obama: “Now, the conversation I had with Joe the plumber, what I essentially said to him was, ‘Five years ago, when you were in a position to buy your business, you needed a tax cut then, and what I want to do is to make sure that the plumber, the nurse, the firefighter, the teacher, the young entrepreneur who doesn’t yet have money, I want to give them a tax break now.”

By the middle of the debate, I’m thinking Joe is soon going to be a pop culture figure. He’ll no doubt wind up on TV news talk shows, maybe the comedy shows. But he’s just an average….Joe. He first showed up yesterday on the campaign trail, as a citizen with a question.

Joe Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio, might be the most famous plumber in the country after confronting the Democrat earlier this week when Obama was canvassing his neighborhood. Wurzelbacher, who is about to purchase a small business that nets more than $250,000/year – the magic number at which Obama will increase taxes – asked Obama why after working hard for so many years he should be taxed.

Obama and Wurzelbacher spoke for about six minutes – in front of press – about Obama’s tax plan, after which Obama noted the conversation was “good practice” for his debate with McCain.

That got picked up quickly by some media. Especially Obama’s answer that he didn’t want to punish Joe’s success, but did want to “spread the wealth around”. So it didn’t take long for McCain to bring him up as a citizen targeted for income distribution.

The buzz is now spreading.

But in post-debate analysis, one anchor said field producers had already reached Joe, and he said he still believes Obama is going to raise his taxes. But he refused to disclose who would get his vote.