In honor Wednesday being dubbed ” Joe the Plumber Day,”, average-Joe’s from across Wisconsin spoke to the press Wednesday about their support for Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

“This was a way for the average person to come out and say that this is what Senator Obama is doing to small business owners,” Kukowski said.

Joe the Plumber Day is one of the many steps the Republicans are taking in the next six days leading up to Tuesday’s presidential election. The 11 selected “Joes” from around the state spoke in radio and print interviews to get out the message about taxes in this election.

One “Joe”, Brian Westrate the Educator from Sterling Education Services, said that Obama’s tax and healthcare plans will damage small businesses in America. Jack Voight the Insurance Man from Voight Insurance agrees that the government under Obama would over tax businesses.

“One of McCain’s biggest hurdles to overcome has been cutting through the rhetoric to get at the actual meat of Obama’s policies,” Westrate said. “Average Joes need to realize the impact that a Barack Obama presidency would have on their businesses.”

Tom Barnes the Banker from Amfinity Capital Corp. wanted to do anything he could to help McCain in this election. He said that he hopes Joe the Plumber Day will clear up some of the misinformation surrounding McCain’s tax plan.

“What Obama is proposing is creating a world where everyone is dependent on the government,” Barnes said. “McCain wants people to become independent and not to expect a handout.”

Harry Macco the Builder from Hillcrest Lumber Inc. agrees that Obama’s message is that the government will take care of everything. However, Macco said that Obama’s tax plan is rhetoric to positively affect the people rather than actually be successful.

“It has been proven time and time again that good competition does a lot better job for people, for groups and for states, than the government taking care of it for us,” Macco said.

The name “Joe the Plumber” has been a McCain campaign catchphrase since the last presidential debate, according to Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin. The phrase refers to average working class Americans who are afraid of high taxes in the plan proposed by Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Phil Walzak, Wisconsin communications director for the Obama campaign, responded to Joe the Plumber Day by stating that Obama has a tax plan that will benefit working class and middle class Americans.

Obama’s plan provides three times more tax relief for the middle class than McCain’s plan does, Walzak said.

“Under Obama’s plan, 95 percent of workers will see a tax cut,” Walzak said. “Whereas McCain will continue Bush’s tax plan, giving tax breaks to the top one percent.”

Walzak said Joe the Plumber Day is an attempt to spread the message about taxes, but is not supported by facts.

The McCain campaign will continue to build the coalition of Joe the Plumbers who support McCain until Election Day, according to Kukowski.