Here, for the screenshot (click to enlarge it's all worth reading). McCain might not be good with names [hence his, "That one" from the earlier debate], and meant, this time, Gordon the Plumber.
That's possible.
We cannot rule out any reasonable likelihood.
Perhaps what McCain meant was Krogh the Plumber, and as he will do, he misspoke. But Krogh the Plumber is in Seattle, not Ohio, Pennsylvania or one of the mid-continent states. Again, however, it's been noted that McCain does misrecollect and misspeak.
It was probably Palin with her "Joe Sixpack" that got McCain mixed-up and befuddled, Joe-wise, to where he simply misspoke. I can easily envision Gordon The Plumber, or Krogh The Plumber, either of them, not wanting to be penalized for not providing subordinates healthcare coverage. But, Krogh Sixpack, does not resonate, and Gordon Sixpack, Palin could not have used that, it resonates less.
My guess is neither Palin nor McCain meant Joe Mainstreet, who's now scared shitless over where his money's gone/going under the auspices of the man McCain says he's not (W) even while holding to similar views and policies and great deregulator credentials while having no desire to share the wealth, any wealth.
_____UPDATE_____
And if McCain chumminess with Gordon the plumber is not enough for you, there's his other past friend and benefactor, Keating the crook.
The McCains reportedly own seven homes. They all must be glass houses, each a stone's throw away from misspeaking/misstepping.
______FURTHER UPDATE______
New York Times reports - Joe the Plumber is not named Joe but Samuel, he's not a Plumber in that he holds no license to plumb the homes and businesses of Toledo Ohio where he resides, he reportedly owes back taxes, and he assumes celebrity for himself, saying, "I’m kind of like Britney Spears having a headache. Everybody wants to know about it."
But that's only a mainstream media version of things.
I like the Krogh the Plumber explanation better. It's simpler.
Instead of making Sen. McCain look to be a devious old fart dishonestly distorting facts to fit his rhetorical devices, something politicians almost never do, the Krogh the Plumber theory makes the Senator look reflective and nostalgic, yearning a bit for a better time when there was a GOP president in the White House somewhat more popular than George W. Bush, and who said, "I am not a crook," echoed by a later usage, "I am not George Bush."
You decide. Did McCain's story intend focus on a non-plumber not named Joe, or was it plain vanilla GOP Nixonian reverie - reflecting on a time peopled with unforgetable figures Wikipedia reminds us of, such as the twin pillars of "the Berlin Wall," Haldeman and Erilchman, Chuck the Hatchet, (Charles Colson who was born one time too many), and of course, our guy, McCain's guy, Krogh the Plumber.
But wait, there's more. That Wikipedia post mentions, "Henry Paulson was John Ehrlichman’s assistant in 1972 and 1973," so some circles are unbroken.
______FURTHER DETAIL______
The NYT item has this ending:
Mr. [Samuel] Wurzelbacher is registered to vote in Lucas County under the name Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher.
“We have his named spelled W-O, instead of W-U,” Linda Howe, executive director of the Lucas County Board of Elections, said in a telephone interview. “Handwriting is sometimes hard to read. He has never corrected it in his registration card.”
The records, she said, showed he voted Republican in the March primary.
Mr. Wurzelbacher told Ms. Couric that his encounter with Mr. Obama was a matter of impulse.
“Neighbors were outside asking him questions, and I didn’t think they were asking him tough enough questions,” he said.
He went on, “You know, I’ve always wanted to ask one of these guys a question and really corner them and get them to answer a question,” he said, “for once instead of tap dancing around it, and unfortunately I asked the question, but I still got a tap dance.”
He added, “Almost as good as Sammy Davis Jr.”
Again this supports Krogh the Plumber, since McCain using this guy for advantage would border on shabby racist appeal to bigotry, which Sen. McCain would never do, having replied, "No ma'am. He's a good family man, ..." when a rally attendee in Lakeville Minn. earlier this week called Obama "an Arab."
Clearly McCain is careful to not say anything that might offend, or imply he does profiling in his mind.
________ADDITIONAL UPDATE_______
For a view of Ms. Palin's Joe Sixpack, who he might be, see here, and same blog, see the Oct. 16 postings, here.