It's the price of fame.  Maybe Joe the Plumber had it right yesterday when he felt all the media publicity turned him into Britney Spears.

New best friend John McCain is sticking up for the plumber (who actually does have a real last name -- it's Wurzelbacher).  McCain told a crowd in Miami that Joe is under unfair attack.

"The response from Senator Obama and his campaign yesterday was to attack Joe," he said.  "People are digging through his personal life and he has TV crews camped out in front of his house. He didn't ask for Senator Obama to come to his house. He wasn't recruited or prompted by our campaign. He just asked a question. And Americans ought to be able to ask Senator Obama tough questions without being smeared and targeted with political attacks."

Joe-Hero

Rodney Dangerfield said it best, "Tough crowd, I tell ya'.  Tough crowd."

Just two nights ago, Joe the Plumber was the toast of the town.  All but the centerpiece of John McCain's planned comeback, with the Republican nominee mentioning the Toledo resident more than 20 times during the final debate, the quasi-plumber is now experiencing the backlash of getting involved in high-stakes politics.

Joe-the-Citizen

Who can criticize the guy for wanting to get involved in the political process? Civic participation is what our citizens are urged to do. Be a part of the solution. Get involved. Everybody's vote counts.

If you become influential, however, there's a price to pay. And no one became more influential more quickly (save Sarah Palin) in the last few months than Joe the Plumber.

Joe-the-Hero

He became an instant hero for conservatives who became electrified when hearing the average blue-collar Joe skeptically question the Democratic nominee for president.

Conservative talk show hosts pleaded on their programs for McCain to bring up the plumber's showdown with Obama.

McCain did. A lot.

Joe-under-Microscope

And now Joe is facing some scrutiny.

Turns out he doesn't have a plumber's license.

Does he need one to practice his trade? A quick Google search on the topic brings us to a credible source -- the movie Weird Science -- where plumbing was discussed.

Lisa:  What do you do for a living Al?
Al: I'm an independent businessman.
Gary: My Dad's a plumber. He's into plumbing. I guess you plumb, right, Dad?
Al: Yeah.

That does us little good, but it's still a good movie. Moving on...

Joe-the-Plumber?

Let's go to back to Ohio. The Toledo Blade reports that "Mr. Wurzelbacher said he works under [his employer's] license, but according to Ohio building regulations, he must maintain his own license to do plumbing work.  He is also not registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio- which means he's not a plumber."

Does that do any damage to the story?  "Joe the Not-Really-a-Plumber" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

Joe-sorta-Plumber

But some say, who cares?  Money writer Matt Bandyk over at U.S. News and World Report says license-schmisence.

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