McCain Crowdsources 'Joe the Plumbers'

Having thoroughly milked the "real" Joe the Plumber for all he is worth, John McCain is now crowdsourcing a search for Joe the Poser.

Apparently the campaign believes that yes, you could be the one of the lucky "hardworking 'everyday Joes' who understand the value of honest work and the American Dream,” the campaign says on its web site.

McCain's campaign released an email Monday asking supporters to create 30 second video clips of themselves explaining why they are “Joe the Plumber.” The "best" one will be featured in a televised ad, according to McCain's website.

Joe the Plumber stepped into the spotlight in the third and the final presidential debate, when McCain mentioned him 21 times to attack Obama on taxes. He has since become something of a punch line and is still one of the top trending topics on Twitter, having squandered his 15 minutes of fame to become Joe the Overkill.

And, McCain's attempt to extend the buzz may be ill-considered: a new poll finds that Joe isn't helping the campaign at all in important states:

While 68 percent of Ohio respondents said they recognized Joe the plumber, only 6 percent said that Joe's story will make them more likely to vote for McCain. An additional 4 percent said the tale made them more likely to vote for Obama; and 85 percent were not affected.
In Missouri, where 80 percent had heard of the plumber, 8 percent said they were more likely to vote McCain, 3 percent more likely to vote
Obama, and 86 percent said they were not affected by his story.