OXNARD, Calif. -- Joe Lara's cell phone went off Thursday morning like a winning slot machine, belting out "ding, ding, ding, ding, ding." The Oxnard man picked it up and recoiled: He had 56 voice mails."I said, Who in the heck is calling me?' "It was the media. Calls were coming from as far away as London for the man licensed in California as "Joe the Plumber."The travails of "Joe the Plumber" -- true identity, Samuel J. Wurzelbacher of Holland, Ohio -- were a topic of conversation during Wednesday night's presidential debate, prompting reporters to search for this "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" character.That led them to Lara, whose business is called Joe the Plumber and whose Web site, www.joelaratheplumber.com, is the first to pop up when you Google "Joe the Plumber."Lara watched about 30 minutes of the debate Wednesday before shutting it off, still undecided about whom to vote for. "I watched part of it, but to me it was the same old stuff," he said.His wife, Cindy Lara, sounded amused by all the media attention. "Yes," she laughed, saying she knew why The Ventura County Star was calling.By the end of the day, Joe Lara had received more than 100 phone calls and done interviews with Esquire magazine, National Public Radio and the KEYT TV station in Santa Barbara, among others.Even though he told reporters he's not the same "Joe the Plumber" referred to in the debates, that didn't stop them from wanting his opinions."They're trying to get insights on my political views," he said.It's pretty simple, he said: He's a 49-year-old plumber with a wife and handicapped daughter. He works two jobs seven days a week "to support everybody. But that's just the way it goes."When foreign reporters asked him if, as a Californian, he's got it better than his Ohio counterpart, he set them straight."They think California's some magic place. I say, no. I'm moonlighting, trying to make ends meet."(Stephanie Hoops is a reporter for The Ventura County Star in California.)
Meet another Joe the Plumber, this one in Calif.
Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 10/17/2008 - 16:26
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