Average Joe

Joe the Plumber rose to fame after telling Sen. Barack Obama that he planned to buy a small business and was worried that he'd be forced to pay higher taxes if the Democrat won the White House.

It appears, now, that Joe has put on hold his plans to buy that plumbing company. But he can still count on his tax bill going up.

The Washington Post reports that Joe -- 34-year-old Joe Wurzelbacher of Ohio -- has signed with a Nashville public relations firm known for its work with country music acts.

"He's a focused, dynamic speaker, and he's touched a nerve with the common man," Jim Della Croce, owner of the Press Office, told The Post. "There's going to be life far beyond the election for Joe the Plumber."

Mr. Wurzelbacher, reports his new publicist, has "gone out to the woods to get his head together" after his introduction to celebrity. Perhaps he'd also better find a good accountant to help him cushion the financial blow his newfound success will trigger under a big-spending, high-taxing Obama administration.